Climate change and nuclear disarmament will be high on the agenda for United Nations Secretary-General, Ban Ki-Moon as he enters his second term of office.
In an exclusive interview with Channel NewsAsia in New York, Mr Ban said more needs to be done in the area of climate change, even as the issue finds its place at the top of the global agenda.
“But as far as level of achievement, substantial progress is concerned, I am afraid that we will have to do much much more” he told Channel NewsAsia’s Suzanne Jung.
He described the efforts from the climate change meetings in Bali, Copenhagen and Cancun as foundations that need to be built upon, adding that world leaders need to step up.
“I am going to press them to be flexible and to play a role as global leaders, transcending national boundaries.
There is no country in the world without any domestic problems but this is a global challenge requiring global solutions through global solidarity, so leaders should play a role as global leaders and even each and every citizen, they have to play a role as a global citizen”.
Taking on the reigns of UN head in 2007 from Dr Kofi Anan, the former South Korean foreign minister and career diplomat had been criticised in some quarters for a lack of forcefulness, while winning praise from others for his tough handling of the Arab uprisings that’s still festering in Libya.
“Everybody has different perspectives, different views, so I respect all these different aspects or different views about my leadership style or performance” the UN chief remarked.
“I am a man of integrity, man of principle, discipline and I regard this accountability, transparency, accountability” he said in the Channel NewsAsia interview to be aired on Thursday at 8.30pm (Singapore time).
“I have been trying to lead by example. It’s easy to say “lead by example”, but actually doing it is very difficult, you have to be extremely focused, you have to be extremely disciplined, that’s what I have been doing for the last 40 years.
That’s why member states, even there were some criticism in the past, now realise that I am genuinely committed to upholding principles of United Nations charter.”
While the Arab issue will remain on Mr Ban’s plate for the near future, the UN leader also plans to push the envelope on nuclear non-proliferation.
He said he’s aiming for a high level meeting on nuclear safety and nuclear security in September, following the success of the first Nuclear Security Summit at the UN.
He also noted that his proposals tabled for nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation have been gaining wider support from the international security, a move he finds encouraging.
