Global climate is a more and more pressing matter as Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon clearly stated at a climate change summit on Monday.

150 representatives and 80 heads of state gathered at the meeting to find a way to solve the global worming problem were Ki-Moon urged them to act quickly to save future generations from the devastating effects of global warming.

The un summit on Monday has been noted as the largest gathering of global leaders on the issue and has started negotiations for a treaty to succeed the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, which placed limits on emissions blamed for global warming. The pact, which was not signed by the United States, expires in 2012.

Ki-Moon has said he is trying to put the problem solving in the hands of heads of state, who are better positioned to change and coordinate their nations' international policies, and not in those of environmental ministries.

The Bush administration insists that each nation should be allowed to set its own limits and should not be bound by a U.N. treaty. President Bush initially declined to attend the U.N. session, and will host a competing conference in Washington this week for 15 of the world's biggest polluters. But after a personal plea from Ban, Bush joined a dinner for 20 heads of state and government Monday night.

At a June meeting of the Group of 8 industrialized nations, the U.S. blocked an agreement to cut global warming emissions in half by 2050. The U.S., alone with Australia, has continued to reject the 1997 Kyoto Protocol's emission caps, arguing that they would hurt the U.S. economy and that the country could compensate for pollution with new technology.