BALI, Indonesia – COUNTRIES will have to significantly increase their pledges to cut greenhouse gas emissions if there is any hope of preventing the catastrophic effects of climate change, according to a UN study released yesterday.

Sixty nations — including China, the United States and the 27-member European Union — met a January 31 deadline to submit pledges to the UN for reducing the heat-trapping gases as part of a voluntawill have to be far more ambitious in cutting greenhouse gas emissions if the world is to effectively curb a rise in global temperature,” UNEP executive director Achim Steiner said. “We know today that inaction on climate change in ths C (2.3 degrees F) above today’s average temperatures.”

Scientists believe global emissions must be cut in half by mid-century in order to avoid the melting of glaciers and icecaps, the flooding of low-lying coastal cities and islands, and worsening droughts in Africa and elsewhere.

Steiner was on Indonesia’s resort island of Bali for a meeting of environmental officials from more than 140 countries that starts today. Among the issues they expect to tackle are the importance of biodiversity, how to promote greener economic development and the possibility of merging several UN environmental agencies.

The Copenhagen meeting set up the first significant programme of climate aid to poorer nations, with pledges from industrialised nations of a US$30-billion fund.

Despite the mistakes, Steiner argued that the science behind global warming is robust and that the report itself was helping countries combat it.

“These errors in a body of work involving tens of thousands of pieces that were brought together is portrayed as having shaken the foundations of the science of climate change,” Steiner said.

Indonesian Assistant Minister for Global Environmental Affairs Liana Bratasida said she would remind Pachauri to consult with as many scientists on future reports to guard against mistakes, which could undermine the public’s trust in climate change science.