France on Wednesday named former prime minister Michel Rocard as its ambassador to international talks on the fragile and changing polar regions, Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said.
"Michel Rocard is ... in this matter truly a pioneer," he told the parliamentary foreign affairs committee.
Rocard, 78, has in recent months been calling for international talks to be held on how to deal with the impact of global warming on the Arctic, which has been identified by scientists as a region of extreme environmental fragility.
Climate change is leading the polar ice cap to melt, and an ice-free North Pole holds the promise of shorter shipping routes between Europe and Asia and of opening up the region's wealth of natural resources, including oil and gas.
But disappearing sea ice poses a threat to polar bears and other wildlife as well as to local people who hunt on the ice and live on its edge.
Antarctica is facing a different set of challenges, largely linked to a growing parade of tourists and researchers visiting the icy continent.
The latest in a string of Socialists, including Kouchner, to take up office under Sarkozy's right-wing government, Rocard served as prime minister under president Francois Mitterrand from 1988 to 1991.
Source: AFP Global Edition
