Climate change is no longer a matter for scientific debate, but has become a question to be solved at the international political level, the UN secretary-general's three new special envoys on the issue said today. The envoys pledged to use their experience and contacts with national leaders to stimulate a greater level of action to combat global warming.

The three envoys – former Norwegian Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland, former South Korean Foreign Minister and General Assembly President Han Seung-soo, and former Chilean President Ricardo Lagos Escobar – held a working lunch today with Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, who announced earlier this year that tackling climate change is one of his priorities as head of the United Nations.

In their first news conference since taking up the assignment, the three envoys said Secretary-General Ban had asked them to discuss the issue with the world’s major political figures, especially national leaders, and to formulate proposals ahead of the next high-level international meeting, scheduled for September, and a follow-up conference in Bali in December.