Will Hot Words at U.N. Climate Summit Be Enough to Cool the Planet?

Sept. 24, 2007 — -- Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore and California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger told world leaders at the United Nations that climate change is a global challenge that requires immediate action.

Appearing at the request of U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, they joined over 80 heads of state in the largest gathering of world leaders to address the topic.

"The consequences of global climate change are so pressing, it doesn't matter who was responsible for the past," Gov. Schwarzenegger told a packed General Assembly. "What matters is who is answerable for the future. And that means all of us," he added.

The Republican governor showcased California's recent efforts to go green as the "cutting edge" of how government can deal with climate change, highlighting the state's recent technological innovation and legislation to reduce carbon emissions.

Gore, who has made global warming his main issue since leaving office and achieved celebrity status for his documentary, "An Inconvenient Truth," called for the world's top leaders to meet every three months -- starting in 2008 -- until they draft a plan that will reduce the emissions that cause global warming. Echoing such a call for action was French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who appealed to the major emitters to reduce their carbon dioxide emissions by at least half by 2050. German Chancellor Angela Merkel took a strong stance as well, suggesting that a global scheme to trade carbon, which puts a price on a nation's carbon dioxide emissions, will also be key in the fight against global warming.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told international leaders during the summit that climate change is an "urgent" global challenge, and said that the White House is willing to take a leadership role on the issue.

Appearing on behalf of President Bush, who did not attend the summit but later went to a dinner hosted by the Secretary General, Rice said the world's fight to cool the planet would have to come from a "technical revolution," such as the development of clean coal plants and biofuels.