German Chancellor Angela Merkel will address the UN general assembly for the first time on September 25, a spokesman for her government said Saturday, according to DPA. The chancellor will combine the UN engagement with her attendance at an international conference on climate change in New York, the spokesman added. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has called a conference of 100 government leaders on the climate issue for September 24, a day before the UN general assembly opens. Officials hope the talks will help narrow differences ahead of a meeting in Bali in December to prepare for a successor to the Kyoto protocol on greenhouse gas emissions, which expires in 2012. US President George W Bush has invited leaders of 15 industrialized and developing nations to Washington on September 27 and 28 to seek agreement on a process to reduce carbon emissions.
