DIRECTOR GENERAL EXPRESSES SORROW AT DEATH OF JACQUES-YVES COUSTEAU

Paris, June 25 {No. 97-99} - UNESCO Director-General Federico Mayor expressed sorrow at news of the death of pioneering oceanographer Jacques-Yves Cousteau in Paris yesterday.

Extending his condolences to Mr Cousteau’s family and colleagues, the Director-General declared: "Jacques-Yves Cousteau taught us more than almost anyone about the oceans he loved and understood at a time when few were aware of their essential role in maintaining the ecological balance of our planet. His pioneering scientific work and talents as a communicator have had an inestimable impact on our understanding of the risks facing the environment. His work and films informed many generations of people all over the world."

The Director-General also expressed regret at the loss of "a great friend of UNESCO. His invaluable intellectual contribution to our work will be particularly missed as UNESCO prepares to mark 1998 as the International Year of the Ocean."

Mr Cousteau played a guiding role in developing the UNESCO-Cousteau Ecotechnie Programme (UCEP), founded in 1994 to train researchers and decision-makers through transdisciplinary curricula combining ecological, economic, social, cultural and technological studies. To date, five UCEP Chairs have been established at universities and research institutions in Europe and Asia, and additional chairs are under preparation in Africa, Asia and Latin America.

Mr Cousteau initiated and led a major campaign in which he collected more than five million signatures from around the world in support of an international declaration on the rights of future generations. He worked closely with UNESCO on the draft Declaration on the Safeguarding of Future Generations, which will be submitted for adoption at the Organisation’s upcoming General Conference this November. The French oceanographer also collaborated in the work of UNESCO’s youth programmes as well as with the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission, notably to highlight scientific solutions to ocean problems.