United Nations Radio

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the UN Climate Change talks are crucial to our common future and called for a concrete workplan that will enable countries to engage in real negotiations ending with an agreement in 2009.

He addressed a meeting, which linked climate change to the achievement of the UN's Millennium Development Goals:

"When it comes to climate change, delay is not like a delay in reaching other types of agreements. We cannot just pick up a couple of years from now and resume as if nothing has happened. Science tells us that such an approach courts disaster."

The Secretary-General said everyone needs to better understand the links between climate change and the development goals to ensure that the responses are scientifically and economically sound.

Reporting for UN Radio, I'm Bissera Kostova.

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