46 nations call for tougher U.N. environment role

By Alister Doyle, Environment Correspondent

PARIS (Reuters) - Forty-six nations called for the creation of a more powerful U.N. environment agency on Saturday, saying the survival of humanity was at risk, but the United States, China and Russia did not sign up.

"We must realize that we have reached a point of no return, and have caused irreparable damage," according to the "Paris Call for Action" read out by French President Jacques Chirac after a two-day conference at his Elysee Palace.

On Friday, the world's top climate scientists said global warming was man-made and said rising temperatures could cause more droughts, heatwaves and rising seas for more than 1,000 years even if emissions of greenhouse gases are capped.

"We are coming to realize that the entire planet is at risk, that the well-being, health, safety, and very survival of humankind hangs in the balance," Chirac said after talks with politicians, scientists, business leaders and foreign leaders.

The Paris appeal seeks the creation of a new U.N. Environment Organization (UNEO) to fight threats such as global warming, water shortages or a loss of species. And it urges "massive international action to face the environmental crisis".

The existing U.N. Environment Program, based in Nairobi, is often faulted for having too limited powers.

The "Paris Call for Action" was backed by European Union countries and others including Algeria, Ecuador, Cambodia, Vanuatu, Seychelles, Gabon and Burundi.

But the United States, China, Russia and India -- the top four emitters of greenhouse gases -- were absent from a list handed out by Chirac's office. Carbon dioxide comes mainly from burning fossil fuels in factories, power plants and cars.