UN General Assembly
2007

exchange of views in the general debate, it will no doubt provide a useful backdrop to the meeting of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change to be held later this year in Bali, Indonesia. The impact of climate change and environmental degradation falls disproportionately upon developing countries. Developing countries are the most vulnerable to it, and also lack the means to tackle it. Measures to address climate change must be based on mitigation and adaptation strategies with fair burden- sharing and measures to realize sustainable patterns of consumption and production. The process of burden- sharing must also take into account where the primary responsibility for the present state of greenhouse gas concentration in the atmosphere rests and not foreclose rapid and sustained economic development for the developing world, which, in any case, is an imperative for adaptation. Technology is the other key area that needs to be addressed. It is important that critical clean technologies be made available and affordable to developing countries. The intellectual property rights regime must balance rewards for innovators with the