Representatives attending the environmental conference held in
Paris on Saturday called for a stronger and more genuine
international environmental organization to better deal with the
climate challenges.
"We hope to establish a new world environmental organization
which goes along the lines with the World Health Organization. It
should be more powerful and recognized by the whole world," said
the "Paris Appeal" released by the "Citizen of the Earth"
summit.
The full-fledged UN environmental agency will be an instrument
for promoting new technologies to protect eco-systems and
supporting the implementation of world environmental policies, said
the appeal.
Addressing the conference, French President Jacques Chirac also
called for a new world environmental body to replace the existing
UN Environment Programme (UNEP) in order to strengthen the
international control over the environment.
His proposal received support from more than 40 countries.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told the conference that
dealing with climate challenges had been on the top of his
agenda.
"Environmental problem is a global issue. It has threatened our
efforts in maintaining world peace and security. Only coordinated
international actions could tackle the problem," he said.
Nearly 200 government officials, environmental campaigners and
business leaders attended the "Citizen of the Earth" summit held
from Feb. 2 to Feb. 3 in Paris.
(Xinhua News Agency February 5, 2007)
