Blair asked to clarify climate speech

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.