World summit in quotes

Delegates were urged to think of future generations

Heads of government and delegates at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg have been speaking of the need for decisive action.

Here are some of their key remarks:

"We have plans to end the despair and offer hope. Now is the time to put those plans into action" - Colin Powell, US Secretary of State.

"We are proud to be from America but embarrassed by American policies" - Michael Brune, Rainforest Action Network.

Mugabe launched a scathing attack on Blair

"I don't think that mega summits are the way to secure effective implementation" - Fogh Rasmussen, Danish Foreign Minister.

"Instead of a rendezvous with destiny, they [the US] brought us a rendezvous with deadlock and the status quo" - Paul Joffe, National Wildlife Federation.

"If this proposal had been adopted, it would have led to the Talebanisation of the world" - Serge Chappatte, Swiss delegate (on the US and the Vatican's push for conservative wording in a paragraph on women's reproductive health).

"We feel betrayed. The leaders of the world have behaved as if they were corporate executives" - Ricardo Navarro, Friends of the Earth.

"I am in no doubt that our descendants will look back on this summit and say we set out on a new path" - Margaret Beckett, UK delegate.

Chavez said a rich few had damaged the Earth

"Blair: Keep your England and let me keep my Zimbabwe" - Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe President.

"Let us not be deceived when we look at a clear blue sky into thinking that all is well. All is not well" - Kofi Annan, UN Secretary General.

"Climate change is no longer a sceptical prognosis, but a bitter reality. This challenge demands decisive action from us" - Gerhard Schroeder, German Chancellor.

"Poverty and environmental degradation, if unchecked, spell catastrophe for our world" - Tony Blair, UK Prime Minister.

"Today in Johannesburg, humanity has a date with destiny" - Jacques Chirac, French President.

"We must confront the privileged elite who have destroyed a large part of the world" - Hugo Chavez, Venezuelan President.

"Too many adults are too interested in money and wealth to take notice of serious problems that affect our future" - 11-year-old Justin Friesen, Canada.