“I do not understand why international financial institutions and development banks do not finance civil nuclear energy projects. The current situation means that countries are condemned to rely on more costly energy that causes greater pollution (…) Therefore, I propose that CO2 credits be used to finance all forms of decarbonised energy under a new global architecture after 2013 (…) The important task today is to send the world a message about our shared determination to make civil nuclear energy a tool for peace, cooperation and prosperity (…) The “quasi-theological opposition” between nuclear energy and renewable resources is out of date.We need both. Of course, nuclear energy cannot reverse climate change on its own, but it will be necessary.” Nicolas Sarkozy, French President , at the International Conference on Access to Civil Nuclear Energy in Paris on 8 March