"UN's Ban To See Climate Change Effects on North Pole Trip"

"UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is to visit a Norwegian island deep inside the Arctic Circle, near the North Pole, to see firsthand the effects of climate change, his spokeswoman said.

Ban is scheduled to arrive in Oslo on August 31 for an official visit where he will be received by Norway's King Harald V, and hold meetings with Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg and Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere. ...

The following day, on September 1, Ban will head to Longyearbyen, a town on the Norwegian island of Spitsbergen. The UN chief will spend two days visiting polar stations and research institutes on the island, which is part of the Svalbard archipelago in the Arctic ocean. ...

After his visit, Ban is scheduled to head to Geneva to participate on September 3 in the third World Climate Conference, organized by the UN's World Meteorological Organization."

AFP had the story August 25, 2009.

See Also:

"Top UN Climate Scientist Backs Ambitious CO2 Cuts" (AFP)

"U.S. Needs Climate Law Before Copenhagen: Officials" (Reuters)