are primarily investment managers, but the transition could be painful, because of the speed at which it may have to be effected.

The transition will include a change in thinking for many shareholders, depending upon the business as usual idea, while other shareholders may decide to favour the new economy at the expense of the old.

Andrew Simms, Director of the Global Economy Foundation Programme at the New Economics Foundation, stated:

"The insurance industry is in a strange alliance with the poorest people from developing countries who live in environmentally vulnerable areas. They are both at the cutting edge of climate change. This new framework crosses political divides to unite people concerned with both profit and survival."

Contraction and Convergence has been advocated by many authorities including Sir John Houghton, Chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Working Group 1, as well as the European Parliament

and the UK Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution, in its special report on climate change.

The concept has also been supported by COP6 Chair Jan Pronk, COP3 Chair Raul Estrada Oyuela and UNEP Chief Klaus Topfer, as well as by India, China and the Africa Group of Nations.

Mr. Dlugolecki and Mr. Meyer appeared at a Press Conference during the second week of COP6, where they expressed their concern regarding the outcome of the negotiations and of the lack of