All round co-operation necessary to tackle climate change: Ban

NEW YORK: The phenomenon of climate change is turning out to be "worse than most projections", UN chief Ban Ki-moon has said, pointing out the need for cooperation among all sectors, including the faith community, to tackle the crisis.

Global warming "is less in the news than last year," Ban said at a service held at the Holy Family Church in New York Monday. "Yet the evidence is all around that the problem is worse than most projections."

The phenomenon is also spurring humanitarian crises, such as Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar and hunger in Haiti and the Horn of Africa, the UN Secretary General added.

Speaking on the eve of the sixty-third session of the General Assembly, the Secretary-General pointed out that any solution to climate change has to be truly global, with the UN working in tandem with Member States.

"But we realise that governments cannot do the job alone," he said, stressing the role of the faith community, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), the private sector and others.

"We need all of our partners in this monumental effort to address the global challenges of our time.