UN chief says US must take lead on climate change

SAPPORO, Japan  - UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said Monday that the United States must take the lead in fighting climate change as he opened talks with the world’s most powerful leaders.

Speaking to AFP on his flight to the summit in Japan, Ban also said he would meet on the sidelines with African leaders in a bid to resolve the political crisis in Zimbabwe.

“I hope the US ultimately should take (on) this leadership role. This is what the whole international community expects of the United States,” Ban said in an interview with AFP on his plane to a Group of Eight summit in Japan. The United States is the only major industrial nation to shun the Kyoto Protocol as it pushes for more commitment from developing nations such as China and India.

“It is not the issue of who should come first and who should come later. But it would be desirable that industrialised countries should lead this by example,” Ban said.