We must end the squandering of natural resources and switch to renewable energy sources as quickly as possible. This cannot only be a matter for industrialized nations - we are witnessing at this very moment what a burden the high oil prices place on poor countries in particular. It must be in the interest of all states to bring about the transition from the oil to the hydrogen age as quickly as possible. The most important thing now is to finally overcome the deadlock in the climate protection negotiations and to ensure that the Kyoto Protocol can be implemented by 2002, ten years after the Rio Summit . Another key issue for humanity, the future of genetic engineering, can only be mastered within the framework of a global consensus.
Genetic engineering has the potential to revolutionalize medicine and agriculture.
At the same time, it raises more ethical and human-rights questions than any other technology. Mr President, The Millennium Declaration points the way ahead. If we do not succeed in adapting the United Nations to deal with the challenges of the 21 st century and in modernizing it fully, it will be sidelined with fatal consequences for peace and development, human rights, the environment and social progress. We will all, rich and poor, lose out. We must therefore muster up the strength to resolutely implement the Millennium Declaration.