S. Korean president, U.N. chief agree to cooperate for global warming deal

SEOUL, Jan. 3 (Yonhap) -- South Korean President Lee Myung-bak and United Nations
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon agreed to work together to forge a binding global
warming deal in the New Year, the presidential office said Sunday.
The presidential office, Cheong Wa Dae, said Lee spoke with Ban for 20 minutes on
the phone and concurred on the need to make headway in the 16th Conference of
Parties (COP) in Mexico City, slated for late 2010.
"The president called for adherence to the Copenhagen Accord and pledged to work
with the U.N. to reach a binding deal when countries meet again in the Mexican
capital," said Cheong Wa Dae spokeswoman Kim Eun-hye.
She said that Lee lauded Ban for getting leaders from both developed and
developing countries to come to the Danish capital and recognize their shared
interest in preventing global warming.
"The president said the meeting of leaders should be appreciated as being
historic, and praised the U.N. chief and the global organization for leading the
effort," the official said.
In the COP-15 talks held last month, countries agreed to limit global warming to
within 2 degrees C in the coming year and come up with a goal for both Annex 1
and non-Annex 1 countries to limit emissions of gases such as carbon dioxide.
Annex 1 countries are developed economies that have already agreed to cut
greenhouse gas emissions under the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, while non-Annex 1 nations
have been exempt from making cuts.
Countries also pledged to set up a Copenhagen Green Planet Fund worth US$100
billion by 2020 to help countries threatened by climate change.
The accord, however, received criticism for being vague about emission cut
targets and failure to include a clause that could censure countries for failing
to meet reduction plans.
Lee, in addition, said the hosting of the G20 talks by South Korea this year
makes it imperative for Seoul to work more closely with the U.N. to select key
issues.
Ban, meanwhile, congratulated South Korea for winning the highly competitive
United Arab Emirates nuclear reactor deal.
The deal worth $20 billion marks the first time that the country has won an
overseas deal to build reactors after it started its commercial generation
program in the 1970s.
The secretary-general said atomic energy is directly related to the U.N. effort
to arrest global warming.
Nuclear energy creates significantly less greenhouse gases than fossil fuel,
which has generated new interest in the energy source around the world.
yonngong@yna.co.kr
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