UNITED NATIONS — When international negotiators reached a first-of-its kind climate change agreement in Paris this month, the United Nations’ normally low-key leader, Ban Ki-moon, celebrated onstage, arms raised in victory and more exuberant than many had ever seen him before.
Nearly nine years had passed since, in his first days as secretary-general, Ban surprised world leaders by making global warming a top item on his agenda. Now, on the eve of his final year in office, the cheers in Paris marked the culmination of his nonstop campaign, pressed with world leaders at summit after summit.
It was an emotional moment, and looking back at the road to Paris in an interview with The Associated Press, Ban paid tribute to many people. He also spoke proudly of his own role.
No other leader in the world “has been raising, without fail, all the time, climate change,” Ban said. “I have spent real passion … and most of my time and energy on this issue.”
Ban traced his interest in climate change to his yearlong campaign to lead the United Nations.
Two weeks before he was sworn in as secretary-general, Ban told Tim Wirth, then president of the United Nations Foundation, that one of his two highest priorities would be climate change, along with empowering women.
“You could have blown me away,” Wirth said of Ban’s choice of tackling global warming. At the time, climate change was not a popular topic.
The 1997 Kyoto treaty, which required only rich countries to limit emissions blamed for global warming, was set to expire in 2012. Negotiations on a new agreement had almost collapsed, Ban said.
“I thought that I needed to revive this one,” he said.
Ban decided to hold the first-ever climate change summit at the United Nations in July 2007.
At a U.N. conference in Bali in December 2007, the United States, the lone major industrial nation to reject Kyoto, was opposing India’s proposal to strengthen requirements for richer nations to help poorer countries.
An isolated United States capitulated, and the first roadmap for addressing climate change was adopted.
“Miraculously, I was able to save this one,” Ban said.
But then came the disappointment of the 2009 Copenhagen negotiations.
There were too many differences and negotiations ended with no agreement.
“From the failure of Copenhagen, we learned a great lesson,” Ban said.
One was to have every country provide its own national action plan to combat climate change.
As the summit in Paris approached, Ban participated in monthly strategy videoconferences. One key decision was to reverse the usual negotiations process and have country leaders attend the start of the summit to give impetus and direction to negotiators.
Ban’s perseverance and leadership were essential, said former Norwegian Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland, who headed a U.N.-appointed commission that published a report in 1987 outlining the dangers of climate change.
“This is not a one-man show, but the one man is important,” Brundtland said.
