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 06 July 2008 00:50 BST

Tony Blair pushes for climate change agreement in new role

Friday, 14 Mar 2008 13:22
Tony Blair heads to Japan
Former prime minister Tony Blair is incorporating climate change into his post-Downing street activities, it has been announced.

Mr Blair is travelling to Japan, India and China in the next week to advance work towards a "comprehensive deal" on the issue.

He will lead the Breaking the Climate Deadlock campaign and "guide it politically", a statement on his website said, by ensuring technical details do not undercut the competing interests of countries like the US, China and India, as well as the EU.

"We believe that there is a huge economic opportunity: for countries, for business, for people in taking action on climate change," Mr Blair said.

"But it won't be maximised unless there is that true global deal, one with everybody in it, one that has in its heart a substantial cut in emissions and that most crucially has the means of doing it.

"And it's the focus on the 'how' not 'whether' - because we all accept 'whether' – but the 'how' that we will be working on, now and in the months to come."

This weekend the G20 meets in Japan but it is the G8's meeting there later this year which experts say will prove crucial to establishing a long-lasting deal.

Mr Blair commissioned the Stern review on climate change, established the Gleneagles dialogue and ensured the UK met its Kyoto targets during his time as prime minister.

But this is the first time since leaving office last year that he has expanded his post-Downing Street portfolio into this area.

He has taken on roles with US bank JP Morgan, Swiss finance firm Zurich Financial Services and become an adviser to the Rwandan government.End of story


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