Sarkozy opens presidency with climate change debate

Paris, 24 May: Climate change was projected to the top of the political agenda in France this week when new French president Nicolas Sarkozy invited representatives from nine green NGOs to discuss environmental issues.

"The era of meetings is behind us," Sarkozy told the environmental lobbyists. "It is time for action."

During the election campaign, green NGOs gave Sarkozy a paltry 8.5/20 for his proposals on environmental policy, compared to 16/20 for his socialist rival Ségolène Royal.

Following Monday's discussion, representatives from groups such as Greenpeace, WWF and Friends of the Earth were more upbeat about Sarkozy's green credentials, calling the meeting "historic" and "without taboos".

The NGOs praised his "open-mindedness", though admitted there would be considerable disagreement over the role nuclear power should play in the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions.

While most environmentalists believe global warming can be brought under control without an expansion of nuclear power, Sarkozy has signalled that he intends to support France's nuclear programme.

His environment minister, former prime minister Alain Juppé, told the weekly Journal du Dimanche there was currently no solution to cutting carbon emissions without nuclear power.

"We need to equip France with third generation nuclear power stations while working on the fourth generation," he said on Sunday.

Juppé added that France must also boost its programmes to develop renewable energy and in particular its policies aimed at promoting energy efficiency and energy saving measures.

He said the best way to encourage people to save energy was through tax breaks and reduced VAT on green products.

A second meeting between the president and the NGOs will be held on July 14 and is expected to be followed up with a conference in October.

This "will not be another meeting to confirm the state of the planet and conclude that we need to act," Sarkozy told the NGOs. "It will be a negotiation about concrete measures."

Sarkozy has said he wants to agree a five-year set of actions and that his government's environmental performance should be evaluated on a yearly basis.