Ban Ki-moon ends hands-on involvement in climate change talks

New York, Jan.28 (ANI): United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, who made global warming his personal mission, is ending his hands-on involvement with international climate change negotiations.

According to the Guardian, this strategic shift is aimed at pursuing a broader agenda of promoting clean energy and sustainable development.

The paper quoted senior UN officials as saying that the change in focus reflected Ban's realization, after his deep involvement with the failed Copenhagen summit in 2009, that world leaders are not prepared to come together in a sweeping agreement on global warming - at least not for the next few years.

"It is very evident that there will not be a single grand deal at any point in the near future," said Robert Orr, UN Assistant Secretary General for Strategic Planning and a key adviser to Ban.

The view from UN headquarters will likely dismay developing countries who fought hard at Copenhagen and last year's summit at Cancún for countries to renew their commitments to the Kyoto protocol in just that type of grand deal.

"He will continue to encourage leaders to aim for a higher level of ambition but there will need to be less day-to-day stuff," said one UN official.

He added: "The negotiations are very important, but it is the big-picture issues that he needs to be more engaged with."

Ban will focus on broader issues of sustainability, which will be in the spotlight at a summit in Rio de Janeiro in 2012, marking 20 years since the first Earth summit. (ANI)