(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-04-13 19:03

BOAO - Rajendra Pachauri, UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) chairman, urged developed countries to take the first step and make a commitment to tackling climate change here on Sunday.

The developed world, rather than emerging economies such as China and India, should take the first step by making a commitment to tackling climate change, he told the audience at the Boao Forum's plenary session entitled "Climate change: change business, change us" in China's southern Hainan Province.

He called for innovation and joint efforts to work out a solution to stabilize global temperature.

Government, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), industries and the civil society should all work together to address climate change, he said, adding the media had a role to play to spread the message on environmental protection.

The Indian economist agreed that relaxation of intellectual property rights (IPR) and information sharing on global warming were important in multilateral cooperation.

China's 1.3 billion population makes it difficult for the country to settle problems overnight, he noted, adding the country had made tremendous efforts to tackle global warming in the past few years.

In 2007, the IPCC and former US Vice-President Al Gore shared the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize.

Established in 2001, the Boao Forum has become a major platform for discussion and debate on economic development in Asia. The theme of this year's annual conference of the forum is "Green Asia: moving towards win-win through changes".