BANGKOK - The UN's climate chief warned on Tuesday that tackling global warming was vital for the Asia-Pacific region, as it faces a likely intensification of extreme weather events such as the Philippine floods.

At talks in Bangkok to develop a new global climate treaty, Yvo de Boer said the devastation in the Philippines was "the most recent tragic example" of climate change affecting the region, as the death toll reached 240.

"Typhoons, floods and extreme weather events regularly make headlines in this part of the world," de Boer said in a briefing on the Asia-Pacific region on the second day of meetings in the Thai capital.

"The impacts are likely to become more intense over time. Dealing with emergency situations, reducing disaster risks and increasing the climate resilience is a necessity for this region," he added.

The Asia-Pacific region has experienced 80 percent of global casualties related to extreme weather events over the last seven years, said UN Under-Secretary General Dr Noeleen Heyzer.

"Climate change is likely to increase both the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events as well as the number of related casualties," she told the briefing.

Heyzer, also chief of the UN's Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, said most developing countries in the region faced two inter-linked challenges: combating poverty and overcoming climate change.

"Failure to tackle one will undermine efforts to deal with the other," she said.

The transition towards a low carbon economy was already happening in the region but still required "massive investments," she added.

The Bangkok talks are the second-to-last negotiating session before a December meeting in Copenhagen where 192 countries hope to agree new targets for tackling climate change.

De Boer said one of the "key elements" of a deal was increased support for developing countries in the Asia-Pacific region and elsewhere to step up efforts to deal with the effects of climate change.

Campaigners have applauded recent encouraging announcements on climate change from Asian countries including China, India and Japan, which has pledged to reduce emissions by 25 percent from 1990 levels by 2020.