Emerging economic giants such as China, Brazil and India must join international efforts to curb carbon dioxide emissions that aggravate global warming, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon told reporters here.

Major emitting countries like China, Brazil and India should take "their own" steps "to participate actively" in the international community's bid to reduce emissions, he said.

A recent report by the Dutch government showed that China overtook the United States to become the world's number one emitter of carbon dioxide by a margin of eight percent.

The Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency (MNP) said Chinese emissions increased by nine percent in 2006 compared with its 2005 output. In the United States emissions rose by 1.4 percent from 2005 to 2006.

China reacted angrily to the Dutch report, accusing the West of hypocrisy given its continued consumer demand for Chinese-made products, often in factories owned by large multinationals taking advantage of cheap labour costs.

However, Ban stressed that "China is one of the biggest emitters and should take part... in the international community's common efforts to address these climate change issues."

"Time is of (the) essence to galvanise political will and coordinate concrete action," he warned. "Both developing countries and developed countries have common responsibilities."

The UN chief also stressed the point when discussing the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which aim to cut extreme poverty by half by 2015, and raise health and education standards in the developing world.

In a halfway progress report, the UN warned that only one of eight geographical regions was on track to meet the goals, with sub-Saharan Africa in particular still mired in poverty.

"There is a clear need for political leaders to take urgent and concerted action, or many millions of people will not realise the basis promises of the MDGs in their lives," Ban said.

This applied as much to developing countries and their need for good, transparent and effective governance, as to genuine commitment and aid distribution by the developed world, he added.

Improved trade conditions are regarded a crucial part of poverty reduction, and the UN chief urged all 150 members of the World Trade Organisation to work together for a successful conclusion to the current Doha round of trade talks.

Ban said the outcome was desperately needed by the world's poor.

"Existing trade barriers, agricultural subsidies, and restrictive rules on intellectual property rights reinforce global inequities -- and they make a mockery of our tall claims to eliminate hunger and poverty from the world," he said.

The talks on a new global trade agreement, launched with great fanfare in the Qatari capital Doha six years ago, have been mired in cross-cutting disagreements between developed and developing countries over agricultural subsidies, tariffs and market access.

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