UN General Assembly president warns small islands to "suffer more" from climate change

The president of the UN General Assembly (GA) said on Thursday that small islands stand to "suffer more" in the growing face of climate change and hoped that next month's climate change talks in Copenhagen can achieve results.

The statement came after GA President Ali Treki convened an informal session on the ongoing negotiations on climate change, which was a run-up to next month's UN conference in Copenhagen.

Citing his recent trip to Rome for the summit on food security, Treki expressed disappointment at the turnout of donor countries. "Almost no one from the donor countries came," he told reporters at a press conference at the UN headquarters in New York, underscoring that he hoped Copenhagen wouldn't be met the same way.

Treki said he hoped next month's talks will "encourage the participation of the most interested and concerned," while at the same time, encouraging them to "achieve good results."

Earlier in his address to the informal meeting, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed his confidence for next month. "We can, and again, I am confident that we will, lay a solid foundation for moving ahead," he said.

"We can, and I believe we will, reach a full and legally binding climate change treaty as soon as possible in 2010," Ban added in response to recent reports that world leaders will not be able to cut a substantial deal toward climate change.

Source: Xinhua