New York: Efforts to achieve the anti-poverty Millennium Development Goals could be reversed if climate change is not addressed, the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) chief said.

During a discussion aimed at exploring the relationship between the development goals and climate change yesterday, ECOSOC President Lo Mrors noted that several countries are off track in achieving the MDGs and said that climate change could further hamper countries efforts to make headway.

ECOSOC's high-level ministerial session this summer will focus on climate change and development and Mrors said ministers should take action on development and climate change.

"In order to achieve the MDGs by the 2015 target date," he said, "we do not only need to step up our efforts particularly targeted at specific MDGs, but also need to step up our efforts to address the challenge of climate change. Otherwise, we risk seeing hard earned fragile economic and social progress reversed by the negative effects of climate change."

"Climate change is, fundamentally, a sustainable development challenge," said Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs Sha Zukang, which involves not only environmental protection but also economic and social development.

"While the list of challenges might seem daunting," Sha said, "we should firmly reject a gloom and doom approach. Today, we have the tools to tackle poverty and climate change in an integrated and balanced way."

He added that to move forward, it will be necessary "to bridge the divide between actors on the environment and on development which, despite our past efforts, continues to exist."
Source : PTI