Blair asked to clarify climate speech
Wednesday 02 November 2005
Prime Minister Tony Blair has been urged by green
campaign group Friends of the Earth to expand on his statements at this
week’s meeting of G8 energy and environment ministers, in which he
questioned the approach of a target-based climate change programme.
Mr. Blair, speaking at the end of the first day of the event, talked of a
‘more sensitive framework for tackling global warming’ after the Kyoto
Protocol in 2012, and the introduction of ‘informal mechanism’ that would
not impact upon economic interests. The PM’s comments appear to echo his
statements in New York recently, where he spoke of ‘changing his thinking’
on the issue.
"By downplaying clear targets and frameworks, the Prime Minister is ignoring
calls from UK companies who want a clear framework to operate within now,”
said Friends of the Earth’s Executive Director Tony Juniper.
"The Prime Minister's move away from a target-based approach could have
disastrous consequences. The Prime Minister must urgently elaborate what
Britain's more sensitive mechanisms will involve," he added.
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