In the wake of the IPCC fourth report, French president Jacques Chirac chose to put the spotlight on the environment. "Today we know that humans are destroying at an alarming rate resources and balances that have enabled them to evolve and are determining their future," declared the concerned head of state in his speech. "We are coming to realise that the entire planet is at risk, that the well-being, health, safety, and very survival of humankind hangs in the balance."

As a remedy, Chirac called for the adoption of a Universal Declaration of Environmental Rights and Duties. Also, he proposed to transform the existing UN Environment Programme into a fully fledged international organisation modelled on the World Health Organisation. Mr. Chirac has been lobbying this idea for some years already.

The tentative UN Environmental Organisation has gained support from the EU and other countries including Algeria, Canada, Ecuador and Gabon. The US, Russia and China withheld their support. This chilly reception will not keep the "friends of the UN environmental organisation" from meeting again, later this year in Morocco.