President Chirac of France, made a ‘Paris Call for Action on global ecological governance’ during the IPCC talks in the city. With the backing of 45 other nations he advocated that the existing U.N. Environment Programme, based in Nairobi and which is often faulted for having too limited powers, be matured into a more powerful UN Environmental Organization (UNEO). The call was backed by European Union countries and others including Algeria, Ecuador, Cambodia, 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.