Moving the climate change debate, which has settled down into a consensus on AWG, out of the scientific body advising the UN — the IPCC — and into the General Assembly seems like a good idea.

Even better, Ban seems to expect results coming out of his attempt to bang heads together:

He said that the outcomes from this meeting would feed into the UN climate negotiation process.

"I have been advised by many experts that if we act now - since we have the resources and heightened awareness - we can reverse it," he said.

"Then we can give a much more prosperous planet Earth to our great, great, grandchildren.