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UN Secretary-General Ban Ki- moon on Monday welcomed the initiative announced by the U.S. government to limit emissions from the country's power plants.
In a statement issued here by his spokesperson, Ban called the initiative "a significant step toward reducing global greenhouse gas emissions that are disrupting the climate, exacerbating extreme weather patterns, and threatening human health, sustainable economic growth and development."
The UN chief, who will convene a climate summit later this year in New York, called on all countries to accelerate their efforts to reduce emissions and strengthen adaptation and resilience.
"He calls on world leaders to take advantage of the unique opportunity provided by the climate summit he will host in September by bringing bold announcements and actions they will undertake nationally, as well as in multilateral and multi- stakeholder settings to address climate change," the statement said.
The U.S. government unveiled the proposal Monday aimed at cutting carbon emissions from existing power plants, the single largest source of carbon pollution in the country, by 30 percent below 2005 levels by 2030.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said in a statement the proposal would cut particle pollution, nitrogen oxides, and sulfur dioxide by more than 25 percent as a co-benefit, and shrink electricity bills roughly 8 percent by increasing energy efficiency and reducing demand in the electricity system.
The UN chief has invited world leaders to the climate change summit scheduled for Sept. 23 at the UN Headquarters in New York.
The September summit will come one year before countries aim to conclude a global climate agreement in 2015 through the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
