U.N. chief warns of dire future without climate deal

August 11, 2009

U.N. chief warns of dire future without climate deal

SEOUL (Reuters) - Failure to act quickly on climate change could eventually lead to violence and mass unrest as global weather patterns drastically change, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Tuesday.

"If we fail to act, climate change will intensify droughts, floods and other natural disasters," Ban said at a forum near Seoul that came weeks ahead of his own conference on climate change in September.

"Water shortages will affect hundreds of millions of people. Malnutrition will engulf large parts of the developing world. Tensions will worsen. Social unrest -- even violence -- could follow," Ban said according to a prepared text of his remarks to a global environment forum in Incheon, west of Seoul.

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Ban, calling climate change a fundamental threat to mankind, called on world leaders to act quickly so that a deal can be reached at Copenhagen.

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