UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told African Union (AU) leaders on Sunday that African nations were among "the least responsible and yet the most susceptible" to climate change.
"Nowhere are the linkages between unsustainable development and climate clearer than right here in Africa," Ban said at the AU summit in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa.
Ban called on delegates to help "keep up the momentum towards achieving a legally binding global climate agreement".
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An accord agreed at the Copenhagen climate conference in December set a January 31 deadline for developing countries to present their non-binding, voluntary carbon-curbing actions, and for rich nations to submit economy-wide emissions targets for 2020.
That deadline has since been extended by UN climate chief Yvo de Boer.
"I welcome those African countries who have already become associated with the accord and I urge others to do the same as soon as possible," Ban said.
Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir and Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe were among those who attended the first day of the summit.
