Today's Date:

It is with great pleasure and not without a degree of emotion that I speak to you, for we are on the eve of an important meeting. Ten years after Rio, but also thirty after Stockholm, it is taking place in 2002, tomorrow.

We will be taking stock, appraising the way we have exercised our responsibilities and

assessing how far we have travelled on the road towards a system of development which addresses present needs without jeopardizing the capacity of future generations to address their own. We have made progress. Rio did not lead only to new conventions, but also to new reactions and attitudes. The issue is now how we go about doing what we want to do: how do we integrate economic, social, environmental and cultural concerns into our behaviour at a day-to-day level, and into our medium- and long-term policies.

Because what we have to consider and must be our priority concern in our action and policies is how to achieve equitable growth. This requires thinking on a global scale when deciding on the allocation of our resources, in order to bequeath a world in which poverty, suffering and health problems will be less widespread.

On the environmental front, we face global challenges. Present institutional structures in this field are unsatisfactory: they work to the detriment of the multilateral accords on the environment and are inadequate compared with the increasing power of other international organizations such as the WTO - which do not have someone equally visible or authoritative to deal with.

The report on international governance of environmental issues which Klaus Töpfer has just given us sets out the shortcomings in the present situation. In many respects these reflect those identified by the studies France conducted last year in the framework of her EU presidency.

They also echo those carried out in other fora which conclude that we need to reform the world institutional architecture that emerged from Bretton Woods.

We must be well aware in this debate of the cost of the lack of global governance. Clearly, two factors - the environment and poverty - are not being taken on board and others have been practically abandoned, such as the relationship between trade and environment.

A reinforcement of existing structures, and in the first place UNEP (United Nations Environment Programme), could lead eventually to the creation of a world organization such as those existing in the fields of health and labour.

KYOTO PROTOCOL

The difficulties we're encountering today on the climate change issue highlight this inadequacy of global operating rules in the environmental field.

The Kyoto Protocol is the fruit of a long effort over several years by experts and political leaders from all the parties. It is the only compromise possible if we are to achieve a real reduction in greenhouse gas emissions without jeopardizing either world economic growth or the development of the countries of the South. It is the only way effectively to combat climate change and the ensuing calamities.

For her part, France has completed her internal ratification process, with the unanimous support of the National Assembly and the Senate. We are encouraging all countries and responsible governments to join us in taking this step. Our ambition is still to implement the Kyoto Protocol, ratify it and bring it into force before the Johannesburg Summit.

This Ninth Session of the Commission on Sustainable Development is discussing, inter alia, energy and transport, two highly independent spheres. We must pay particular attention to choices in urban development and on transport infrastructures in rapidly-growing large towns, since these determine energy consumption for several decades. Here, developed States can help the developing countries achieve "technological leaps forward".

France is keen to see the work begun at this meeting pursued, looking ahead to the World Summit on Sustainable Development in 2002.

The main challenge we face is that of ensuring access to energy services which are indispensable to the social and economic progress of all the world's peoples. Two billion people are without fair and equitable access to energy. Yet such access is not only a guarantee of development, but also a precondition for their health and, indeed, for their survival.

To take up this challenge, we need to find the means to meet energy needs in all spheres - housing, transport, agriculture, industry and health - using socially-acceptable and environmentally-friendly solutions. We must use all the potential of the new and renewable energies and measures to promote fuel efficiency and control energy use. This partnership between industrialized and developing countries must coordinate all the means at our disposal: multilateral and bilateral cooperation, private investment, and mobilization of both States and citizens. Solutions exist which both allow job creation and increase countries' energy independence.

JOHANNESBURG SUMMIT

Finally, I would like to say a few words about the preparation of the Johannesburg Summit.

Over and above the progress report on what has been achieved since the Earth Summit, it will be an opportunity to launch new projects.

We have to explore ideas on better ways of facilitating technology transfers and targeting development aid. The success of this world summit will depend on the close involvement of civil society. Looking ahead to Johannesburg, France is developing a national strategy for sustainable development. A national action group of voluntary organizations has been set up to mobilize civil society on the occasion of this summit.

As well as strengthening international governance of the environment, which I have talked about, France considers that three topics must be given priority treatment:

- water, recognized as a major challenge by all experts and at the very heart of the issues of health, poverty, environment and stability;

- energy: sustainable energy development must be a priority for both the industrialized and developing countries;

- health, at the heart of every strategy in the fight against poverty.

Thank you./.