Little time to fix eco crisis: Gorbachev

     Former Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev says it's "five minutes to midnight" in terms of the global environmental crisis, with little if any time left to fix the damage already caused.

     Delivering a final ominous warning during the last day of the Earth Dialogues forum in Brisbane, the man credited with bringing an end to the Cold War said the world's only option was to take immediate action.

     The planet was already in the grip of an "environmental crisis" that may be too late to fix.

     Mr Gorbachev also condemned world leaders for what he said was their failure to execute political will, saying high level forums had not delivered on promises to address climate change, pollution and other critical issues.

     "When we speak of the environment, we say that the situation is five minutes to midnight," Mr Gorbachev said.

     "We are already in a global environmental crisis. The atmosphere has been polluted and it has had an impact on the global climate.

     "We see the shrinking of arable land, deforestation ... the pollution of the ocean, this is already affecting our lives in a very bad way.

     "We have very little time (to act)."

     The three-day forum at City Hall featured 66 speakers, including four Nobel laureates, on issues such as climate change, economic growth and poverty.

     During that time Mr Gorbachev, with the help of his long-time interpreter Pavel Palazchenko, issued a myriad of warnings about the state of the world.

     They included predictions a global lack of water and energy supplies could spark wars, and that signs of a new arms race were again emerging across the world.

     He also issued advice for Queensland Premier Peter Beattie about building dams and Prime Minister John Howard about the use of nuclear energy - tread carefully.

     Mr Gorbachev, who is now chairman of environmental lobby group Green Cross International, also floated the idea of establishing a branch of his international organisation in Brisbane.

     He founded the group in 1993, and said he had been given the impetus to carry on such work after facing many environmental crises such as the Chernobyl nuclear disaster.

     "But unfortunately we've had a number of failures in regards to the environment," Mr Gorbachev said.

     "The Rio (de Janeiro Earth) Summit (in 1992) has not lived up to the expectations.

     "The international water forums have not made sufficient impact.

     "The millennium development goals adopted at the highest level by heads of state and government at the United Nations also, after five years, we see that there is a gap between words and deeds.

     "Not much has been done because of the lack of political will."

     Mr Gorbachev urged politicians to act now to save the environment.

     "If we don't, then I think that the coming generations will look at us and will say that we failed," he said.

     Mr Beattie presented Mr Gorbachev with an Akubra hat and zinc sunscreen to make him an "honorary Australian".

Australian Associated Press, 24.07.2006