LIMA, Dec. 8 -- Emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) will be cut by some 125 million tons this year, a United Nations (UN) official said Monday.

Speaking at a UN climate change conference in Lima, Lila Karbassi, head of Environment and Climate of the UN Global Compact, also called on the world's business leaders to heed the scientific warnings on climate change.

Karbassi addressed participants at a parallel forum to the 20th annual Conference of Parties (COP20) to the 1992 UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, which Lima is hosting from Dec. 1 to Dec. 12.

The Global Compact -- a UN-led initiative to promote ecological practices among businesses, especially policies to reduce greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming -- announced the creation of a trade and investment work group to help devise responsible guidelines for carbon pricing and investment.

The organization has 400 signatories in various nations, which annually report their advances and progress in implementing environmentally-friendly measures.

"We need to be well informed in order to become fully aware that there is a problem. Only in that way will we assume the consequences and take action," said Manuel Pulgar-Vidal, Peru's Environment minister and president of the COP20.

The world is already suffering from the effects of climate change, said Pulgar-Vidal, stressing the problem does not lie in the future, but must be tackled today.