"I understand this will take lots of time and effort, but Mr. Annan insisted on the need to protect the rights of future generations and said he will pursue all avenues to assure this is done," she said in a telephone interview.

The declaration states that "future generations have a right to an uncontaminated and undamaged Earth and to its enjoyment."

It urges private groups, individuals and all levels of government to take appropriate measures, including education, research, and legislation, to assure these rights are not "sacrificed for present expediencies and conveniences."

"It was one of Captain Cousteau's last wishes that this declaration be accepted by the United Nations," Cousteau said, referring to her late husband, Jacques-Yves Cousteau, who died in 1997 at the age of 87.

Capt. Cousteau founded the society in 1973 and won worldwide attention for his drive to increase awareness of "the beauty and fragility of our water planet" by crisscrossing the globe in his converted minesweeper, the Calypso, in search of marine adventure.