GENEVA (AP) - Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev paints a dim picture of the world two decades after he launched a global effort to aid nations in ecological trouble.

The 82-year-old founder of Green Cross International says "all that has been done is too late, and it's not enough" to reduce widespread suffering and poverty from unchecked population growth and unsustainable development.

Shortly before the Soviet Union's demise in 1991, Mr Gorbachev called for a Red Cross for the environment to respond to threats against the planet, but now admits to deep frustrations as an environmental crusader.

Speaking to reporters on Thursday in Geneva by video link from Moscow, he urged governments to use his policies of perestroika and glasnost - which brought democratic changes - to address climate change and overconsumption of resources.