There is a consensus among policy-makers that UNEP needs to be strengthened, and “in November 2006, the Secretary-General’s High-level Panel on UN System-wide Coherence in the Areas of Development, Humanitarian Assistance, and the Environment recommended that 'UNEP should be upgraded and have real authority as the environmental policy pillar of the UN system'”.[19] And while disagreement remains over whether the creation of a UNEO is necessary, according to a French embassy statement, support is growing. “Following the Paris Call for Action, the Group of Friends of the UNEO was set up and now has 52 States, bringing together, besides the European Union, countries from every geographical area",[20] and many hope that a new administration in the United States will make the creation of a UNEO more likely.