Blair urges radical cuts in greenhouse gas emissions
Mr Blair told an invited audience of businessmen and government officials in the Mozambique capital Maputo that the Kyoto deal “is not radical enough”, and would mean at best a reduction of 1% in global emissions.
The prime minister said the potentially revolutionary role of science and technology in providing new forms of energy should be harnessed and promised to come forward with specific proposals at an unspecified later date.
Mr Blair also announced that British firms exporting renewable energy technology would now qualify for at least £50 million in export credits guarantees, giving them a safety net when dealing with developing countries.
Mr Blair made his call for action on global emissions in the first of two keynote speeches on the environment and sustainable development on the second day of his three-day trip to Africa.
Today, Mr Blair is due to address the Earth Summit in the South African city of Johannesburg.
Mr Blair told his audience last night: “On climate change, we need to build on Kyoto but we should recognise one stark fact: even if we deliver on Kyoto it will at best mean a reduction of 1% in global emissions.”
Mr Blair said that a 60% reduction was needed to reverse the effects of climate change due to global warming.
He went on: “In truth, Kyoto is not radical enough. Yet it is, at present the most that is politically do-able and even then the largest nation, the United States, stands outside it.
“It would help enormously in securing support for Kyoto - and indeed for the necessary more radical action on climate change - if we had a far clearer and deeper knowledge of how science and technology could help in energy production and use, of how market incentives could play a part in changing behaviour, of how business could not just survive but prosper on the back of good environmental policy.”
