last updated 29th September 05
by 4ecotips.com

Conference comments under fire

UK PM Tony Blair is accused of undermining global co-operation on tackling climate change by calling for dialogue between nations to replace international treaties - and arguing for a solution based on new technology delivered by the private sector.

His comments, made at a New York meeting organized by Bill Clinton, are said to have represented a complete U-turn from earlier speeches, in which he pledged support for the Kyoto Protocol - the only international treaty which imposes binding cuts in greenhouse gas emissions on signatories.

Caroline Lucas, the UK Green Party MEP for South-East England, warned that the U-turn threatens future global co-operation to tackle the problem.

She says: "Only a few weeks ago Tony Blair was pledging commitment to the Kyoto protocol process and claiming the right to exercise global leadership on developing a successor agreement to replace the Kyoto Protocol.

"But one short trip to the US later and he's abandoned all that in favour of the Bush approach: ditch all binding agreements and leave it up to private sector to provide a techno-fix. The trouble is - this just won't work.

"Climate change is not a long-distant problem: it's never been more urgent, as an increasing number of indicators suggest we have already reached a point of no return and freak weather events - thought to be increasing in frequency due to slight rises in sea temperatures - are causing death and destruction on an almost unprecedented scale in the US and elsewhere."

She added: "If we are to try and tackle climate change before it's too late we must adopt internationally agreed targets for greenhouse gas emissions. New technology may help us achieve these targets but should never replace them.