New York - French President Nicolas Sarkozy told the UN General Assembly on Wednesday that it had waited "too long" to find solutions for problems like climate change, excesses in the financial sector and nuclear proliferation. "We have waited too long to bring peace to the Middle East by giving the Palestinian people the state to which they are entitled in the name of law and justice and by guaranteeing the people of Israel the right to live in security, which the tragedies of history has made so necessary for them," Sarkozy said.
He called for reform of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank.
He urged the Group of 20 (G20) leading economies to deal with the financial crisis, eliminate tax havens and money laundering, and end excessive speculation that causes price swings in commodities. The G20 leaders are to meet in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on Thursday.
He also called for the establishment of a World Environment Organization, putting together various existing ecological groups.
"In Copenhagen, we need to commit to quantitative targets for greenhouse gas emissions," he said of the December meeting in the Danish capital to deliver a climate change treaty to replace the Kyoto protocol. "This cannot be put off any longer."
