The opening of the United Nations' annual conference on climate change yesterday at Poznan in Poland is a timely reminder that the unfolding financial crisis should in no way weaken the world's commitment to fighting climate change.

The discussions at this conference will be of particular importance to the future roadmap for tackling the problem of greenhouse gas emission. More so because it comes at a time when the world's major economies have announced stimulus packages to try and prevent their economies from slipping into a recession.

True, the major economies differ on their commitments, actions and goals on cutting green house emissions. But the convening of such an annual meeting is based on the consensus that climate change is something that nations must jointly deal with.