Calling climate change the "defining issue of our time," United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called on the world's international community to develop concrete ways to stem greenhouse gas emissions and strengthen the resistance of the planet.

Offering the opening remarks a two-day event on climate change dubbed "Abu Dhabi Ascent" to be held this coming September in New York, which he is co-hosting with the United Arab Emirates government in preparation for the U.N. Climate Summit, Ban asserted that from the tropics to the poles, small islands to large continents, and the poorest countries to the richest, climate change impacts are already widespread, costly and consequential.

"If we do not take urgent action, all our plans for increased global prosperity and security will be undone," Ban said in a news release.

More than 1,000 participants, including 100 government ministers, are attending the two-day gathering, the first international meeting since a series of climate reports by the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which found the impacts of climate change are already being felt, and that the current efforts by the world's governments to tackle the associated effects have been insufficient.

Those reports equally asserted there are still ways the global population can create a low carbon future that could minimize the adverse impacts of climate change and avoid higher costs in the future.

"It is the future we need and we have to lay the foundations today. We have little time to lose," said Ban. "That is why it is important that governments complete a meaningful new climate agreement by 2015 that will rapidly reduce emissions and support resilience."

Explaining the upcoming New York summit will be intended to shape a collective action plan, Ban said he is "inviting heads of state and government, along with mayors and senior representatives from business, finance and civil society, to join a 'race to the top.'"

The U.N. chief said while the September summit will focus on solutions, the Abu Dhabi meeting is "a major milestone on the ascent to the summit. It gives you a chance to experience the wealth of opportunity that exists so you can leave here ready to join others in acting."

He said government officials from across the world have promised to enact a new climate agreement next year in Paris, but Abu Dhabi Ascent could help by underscoring the effects climate change is having on the earth today and establishing new opportunities for cooperative action.

"This meeting is about that future. Over the next two days, you will share what you are doing and planning. You will forge new and broader partnerships. And you will return home with an important message for your political leaders, business and finance networks, consumers and voters," said Ban.