VZCZCXRO8209
OO RUEHHM RUEHLN RUEHMA RUEHPB
DE RUEHFR #0451/01 0361509
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 051509Z FEB 07
FM AMEMBASSY PARIS
TO RUEHNR/AMEMBASSY NAIROBI IMMEDIATE 1215
RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 4705
INFO RUEHZN/EST COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE
RHMFIUU/DEPT OF ENERGY WASHINGTON DC IMMEDIATE
RHEHAAA/WHITE HOUSE WASHDC IMMEDIATE
RUEAEPA/EPA WASHDC IMMEDIATE
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK IMMEDIATE 1129
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA IMMEDIATE 2589

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 PARIS 000451 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
NAIROBI PLS PASS TO USDEL TO UNEP GC MEETINGS; 
DEPT FOR G, OES, EUR, IO, OES/ENV, EUR/WE; 
WHITE HOUSE FOR CEQ 
EPA AND DOE FOR INTERNATIONAL 
BRUSSELS FOR ESTH SMITHAM 
USUN NY FOR SNOWDEN 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SENV AORC FR
SUBJECT: PARIS ECOLOGICAL GOVERNANCE CONFERENCE: CHIRAC 
REITERATES CALL FOR A UNITED NATIONS ENVIRONMENT 
ORGANIZATION 
 
REF: PARIS 00108 
 
¶1.  (U) Summary:  The Paris Conference on Ecological 
Governance - as anticipated - reiterated the call for the 
creation of a United Nations Environment Organization (UNEO), 
as well as the adoption of a Universal Declaration of 
Environmental Rights and Duties.  Following on the heels of 
the strong statement on the science of climate change issued 
on Friday by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change 
working group, the Friday/Saturday Paris Conference, attended 
by world-class environmental activists and policy-makers, 
received wide media attention.  As tangible next steps, 
Morocco has agreed to host the first meeting of a group of 
40-some countries who are "Friends of the United Nations 
Environment Organization" at a time to be determined.  Of 
interest, as climate change was a key topic of discussion at 
the Conference, Yvo de Boer, the Executive Secretary of the 
UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) speaking 
at the opening plenary urged that a world summit be convened 
to discuss ways of creating a post-Kyoto climate regime.  End 
Summary. 
 
------------- 
Chirac's Call 
------------- 
 
¶2.  (U) On February 2 and 3 at the Elysee Palace, President 
Chirac both opened and closed the Paris Conference on 
Ecological Governance, contributing many of his personal 
thoughts on the need for greater world efforts to tackle 
environmental challenges.  In his opening address he said 
that "The planet is sick..." and is subject to "increasingly 
frequent hurricanes, floods, and droughts.  Species are dying 
out at an alarming rate."  Alluding to the just-released 
'Summary for Policymakers Assessment' report of the IPCC, he 
squarely attributed these ecological problems to human 
activity.  He claimed the world's environmental governance 
institutions are fragmented and inadequate to the crisis, 
indeed, in his words they are "ill-suited to the crucial 
issue of the 21st century, the environment."  In the body of 
his opening address, Chirac spoke not only of the need for a 
Universal Declaration of Environmental Rights and Duties, but 
also for a carbon tax, the proceeds of which would be used to 
support developing countries in addressing their 
environmental challenges.  The carbon tax would be analogous 
to the French-inspired airline tax to offset costs for 
countering infectious diseases in developing countries. 
 
¶3. (U) With regard in particular to the creation of a UNEO, 
Chirac credited the United Nations Environment Program as 
"outstanding," but "it does not have adequate powers or 
institutional clout."  He said,"We must aim to transform it 
into a fully-fledged United Nations agency.  This UNEO will 
act as the world's ecological conscience.  It will carry out 
impartial and scientific assessments of environmental 
dangers.  It will have policy-making terms of reference 
giving it the legitimacy to implement action jointly 
decided...."  He said at the outset that the conference's 
goal would be to establish "a pioneering group" of countries 
to advance the UNEO project and "win over those who are still 
hesitant to join us."  Such a group made it into the final 
Paris "Call for Action" document read by Chirac at the close 
of the conference. 
 
---------------------- 
Environmental activism 
---------------------- 
 
¶4. (SBU) The opening and closing sessions of the conference 
had perhaps more the resonance of a colloqium of 
environmental activists than an intergovernmental group of 
negotiators.  British anthropologist Jane Goodall, for 
example, spoke on behalf of the animal kingdom and His 
Holiness Bartholomew I of the Orthodox Church described his 
support for religion, science and the environment.  Sir 
Nicholas Stern summarized his economic message that 
 
PARIS 00000451  002 OF 003 
 
 
mitigating emissions of greenhouse gases now will generate 
future savings.  By video link, Al Gore gave his perspectives 
on climate change post the publication of the IPCC summary. 
And, Nicholas Hulot, the French environmental activist and 
almost presidential contender provided his vision for a truly 
environmentally conscious future.  Presentations by these and 
other celebrities provided thought for reflection. 
 
¶5. (SBU) But, what was striking was that so many of those 
invited to speak described their particular areas of interest 
rather than addressing the subject of President Chirac's 
quest for support of the UNEO proposal.  For example, UN 
Secretary General Ban welcomed the gathering by video link, 
 
SIPDIS 
and highlighted environmental challenges faced by the world, 
but stated clearly that the focal point for addressing these 
concerns was the already existing United Nations Environment 
Programme.  He said that he endorsed reforms that would 
create "a more coherent system of environmental policies," 
but he fell well short of addressing the need for a new 
specialized UN environmental body.  Similarly, European 
Commission President Barroso stated that Europe must lead the 
way to address environmental concerns and that a system was 
needed to get others to participate more fully in 
international processes.  However, Barroso did not explicitly 
call for the creation of a UNEO. 
 
------------------------------------ 
Workshop on Environmental Governance 
------------------------------------ 
 
¶6. (U) Between the opening and closing sessions, six 
concurrent working group sessions were held on biodiversity, 
water, health, climate, patterns of consumption and 
environmental governance.  Each was attended by a mix of 
about a hundred policymakers and representatives of 
environmental groups, academics, and business 
representatives.  Embassy ESTH Counselor exclusively attended 
the one workshop addressing environmental governance, the one 
which considered the proposal for the creation of a UNEO.  At 
that session, many of the interventions were set pieces and 
in the limited time available there were few opportunities 
for free debate. 
 
¶7.  (SBU) One theme which quickly emerged in the 
environmental governance workshop was a lack of confidence in 
the existing international system, given the nature of the 
challenges facing the world environment.  Much reference in 
that regard was given to the just-released IPCC working group 
report on the state of the science of climate change.  But at 
the same time, there was no consensus on the need to create a 
completely new United Nations organization.  Many 
interventions supported finding ways to improve and reform 
the international environmental system.  A number spoke of a 
UNEO concept which would be "modern and light," unlike the 
stereotype unwieldy UN specialized agencies with bloated 
bureaucracies.  The more modern approach would, advocates 
claimed, incorporate mechanisms involving not only 
governments, but also NGOs, as well as the private sector. 
It would be a dynamic body engaged in "networking" and 
creating new models for addressing environmental concerns. 
Representatives of the United Nations University and the 
International Institute of Sustainable Development referred 
to work underway in their organizations exploring these and 
other options.  The Japanese delegation gave perhaps the 
bluntest cautionary statement to the effect that the Japanese 
government was "unprepared" to ask the Diet for "a new budget 
for a new UN organization."  ESTH Counselor, while aligning 
the U.S. with "countries skeptical of the need for the 
creation of a new UNEO," mentioned that addressing 
efficiencies in the existing system made sense.  He also 
emphasized that the USG focus was on implementing the 
Millenium Development goals, not on creating new 
international bodies.  In the summary of the workshop by 
former French Prime Minister Alain Juppe and Indian 
politician and environmental activist Sunita Narain, however, 
little attention was paid to those who had expressed 
 
PARIS 00000451  003 OF 003 
 
 
objections to the UNEO concept. 
 
¶8. (SBU) Comment: One must credit President Chirac for the 
excellent timing of his Conference on Ecological Governance. 
Coming as it did at the same time as the release of the new 
IPCC report, there was already a threshold of excitement 
about the need to do more about the environment.  The 
celebrity environmental activists appreciated the platform 
Chirac created for them to provide their environmental 
messages.  That said, even at a conference convened for the 
sake of the creation of a United Nations Environmental 
Organization, there was no consensus of opinion on that 
topic.  The best that could be said is that there was a 
consensus of opinion that more attention needs to be paid to 
world environmental imperatives.  End Comment. 
 
 
 
Please visit Paris' Classified Website at: 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/paris/index.c fm 
 
STAPLETON