As well as these plans, Nicolas Sarkozy promised to change transport policy to prioritise non-road traffic, and he explained: "We need to profoundly revise all of our taxes and charges. The aim is to tax pollution - notably fossil fuels - more, and tax work less."
Former US Vice President Al Gore, who is currently campaigning on environmental issues, was also present at the conference, and so were top Kenyan environmentalist and previous Nobel winner, Wangari Maathai, and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso.
Nicolas Sarkozy said France would halt the building of any new motorways and airports in a bid to curb pollution from transport, and in place of these there would be greater investment in the French rail network to hopefully move the traffic away from the roads.
