Leaders attending a key UN debate here on Saturday urged greater international efforts to tackle climate change, voicing high hopes for successful outcomes at the December climate conference in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Tuvalu's Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Apisai Ielemia noted that the year 2009 will "mark a watershed in the global fight against climate change," with the upcoming UN conference on climate change in Copenhagen.

The conference is aimed at reaching an global agreement that is set to go into effect in 2012, when the first commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol expires.

"Ihe international community must commit to a rapid course of action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions so that global temperatures do not increase above 1.5 degree Celsius above pre-industrial levels," he said. "Anything higher would be disastrous for Tuvalu. Global emissions must peak by 2015 and dramatically decline thereafter."

Ielemia stressed that even with a new climate change agreement in Copenhagen, "we must not abandon the Kyoto Protocol which is a cornerstone of action to address climate change."

"I fear that some countries are hoping that the Kyoto Protocol will disappear so that they can take softer emission reduction commitments," Ielemia said. "I hope this will not happen as it would certainly be a significant step backwards."

Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende called for "an ambitious, fair and comprehensive agreement" in Copenhagen.

"So in Copenhagen, the Netherlands will call for worldwide C02emissions to be halved by 2050 from 1990 levels," Balkenende said.

To help developing countries to adapt to climate change, the Netherlands has set aside half a billion euros to promote the use of renewable energy in developing countries, Balkenende said.

Denzil Douglas, prime minister of Saint Kitts and Nevis, said that global warming and climate change and their effects do not discriminate.

"We can all agree that the incidence of catastrophic climatic events such as hurricanes, floods, and mudslides continue to claim more and more lives each year," he said.

Calling for "unrelenting commitment to emission targets by industrialized nations," Douglas urged that the major global emitters take the lead in ensuring that the resources are in place for Small Island Developing States (SIDS) to meet adaptation, mitigation, technology transfer, and capacity building goals.

Lesotho's Prime Minister Pakalitha Mosisili expressed hope that the Copenhagen Conference will usher in "a new global agreement which will result in the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions."

"We must never forget that, at the forefront of those most affected by the impact of climate change, are the poor and the innocent," he said.

Mosisili called on developed countries to help developing countries in terms of mitigation and adaptation.

"Those who are responsible for causing pollution of the environment have the responsibility to make cuts in harmful emissions and to help those that are adversely affected," the Lesotho leader said.

Nepal's Prime Minister Madhav Kumar said that the Copenhagen conference should be able to "seal the deal" and work out a new global compact to address the problem of climate change beyond 2012.

Such a new agreement should be in line with the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities with special considerations given to the characteristic vulnerabilities and weaknesses of the least developed and other developing countries, Kumar stressed.

Climate change is one of the key issues that dominate speeches of world leaders attending the general debate of the UN General Assembly here at UN Headquarters.

On Tuesday, or one day before the opening of the seven-day debate on Wednesday, the UN convened a largest-ever summit on Climate Change to give a final push to the climate talks.

Source: Xinhua