Mr Pachauri were addressing the Boao Forum’s plenary session entitled “Climate change: change business, change us” in the southern Chinese province of Hainan on April 13.

He also called for innovation and a joint effort from governments, non-government organizations, industry, the public and the media to stabilize global temperatures.

China’s 1.3 billion population makes it difficult for the country to settle problems overnight, he noted, adding that China had made tremendous efforts to handle global warming in the past few years.

Established in 2001, the Boao Forum has become a major platform for discussing and debating economic developments in Asia. Its theme this year is “Green Asia: moving towards win-win through changes.”