UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday invited world leaders to attend a climate summit in September 2014 at the UN Headquarters in New York to forge a new path toward a low carbon economy.

The secretary-general offered the invitation to world leaders at the opening of the General Debate of the UN General Assembly.

"The impacts of climate change threatens all our development gains," Ban said. "To help set us on this course, I invite all of you to a Climate Summit one year from now here in New York."

The Climate Summit, scheduled for next September, will be joined by people from businesses, finance, civil society as well as local leaders.

"There is opportunity amid this peril -- a chance to change the way we do business, plan our cities, fuel our homes and factories, and move our goods and ourselves," Ban told world leaders.

"A low-carbon path beckons -- a path that can create jobs and improve public health while safeguarding the environment," he said.

Ban challenged leaders to bring bold pledges to the Summit.

The Summit will come one year before countries aim to conclude a global climate agreement in 2015 through the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

Although the 2014 Climate Summit is not part of the negotiating process, countries have recognized the value of the Summit, by welcoming Ban's efforts in a Decision of the Doha climate conference in 2012.

"Let us seize the 2015 challenge: a final push for the MDGs, new directions on energy and climate, and an inspiring new development framework," Ban said, referring to the Millennium Development Goals, a set of eight anti-poverty targets to be reached by 2015. Endi

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