United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has warned that the world will have to deal with a host of challenges in the coming year.

Speaking at his end-of-year press conference at the UN Headquarters in New York, Ban outlined the challenges including climate change, the economic meltdown, and the ongoing crises in Sudan's Darfur region, Somalia, Zimbabwe and Afghanistan.

"This has been a very difficult year for all of us. I have called it the year of multiple crises. The coming year promises to be no less difficult. Our commitment and good intentions will be tested as never before."

Regarding the global economic downturn, Ban called for nations to consolidate efforts in a bid to cope with the crisis.

"I fear we are only at the beginning. This crisis will challenge the sense of global solidarity that is key to any solution."

The secretary-general also noted 2009 will be the year of climate change, culminating in a meeting in Copenhagen next December to draw up a new treaty to slash global warming greenhouse gases.