United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said on Thursday that he was encouraged after his first official meeting with United States President Barack Obama. “It was an extremely encouraging first meeting, both in substance and in spirit. That it should come so early is a strong signal of the new administration's commitment to the United Nations and its cause,” Ban said at his monthly press conference. The U.N. chief called Obama “an enormously engaged and visionary leader” and said the two found “common ground” on many issues including climate change, which Ban has made his signature issue. “On climate change, we agree. It is an existential threat. We know what we must do. President Obama and I share a fundamental commitment: 2009 must be the year of climate change. That means reaching a comprehensive agreement in Copenhagen by year's end,” Ban said. At the start of December, the Danish capital will play host to thousands of the world's politicians and policy-makers when the U.N. hopes to strike a global treaty on reducing greenhouse gases.
