Follow my lead: Brown urges action on climate change
Gordon Brown urges world leaders to follow his lead
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By Tom Powell. |  |
Monday, 21, Sep 2009 05:51
By Richard James.
Gordon Brown has urged his fellow world leaders to follow his lead and personally attend the crucial climate talks in Copenhagen in December.
The prime minister has warned a new climate deal is in danger of failure, claiming there will be no second chance to undo the damage to the environment if "we miss the opportunity to protect the planet".
Writing in Newsweek magazine, Mr Brown said: "The negotiations are proceeding so slowly that a deal is in grave danger.
"Securing an agreement in Copenhagen will require world leaders to bridge our remaining differences and seize these opportunities. But I believe it can be done. And if it is necessary to clinch the deal, I will personally go to Copenhagen to achieve it."
Mr Brown will meet and speak with world leaders at the United Nations in New York on Wednesday and again at the G20 summit in Pittsburgh.
The Copenhagen talks were originally meant to only be attended by environment ministers, but the British prime minister now believes issues have reached a deadlock and the stakes are too large to ignore.
The meetings will attempt to agree on a framework for tackling climate change after 2012 when the current Kyoto protocol expires.
Disagreements currently exist between the developed and the developing world over what actions should be taken to counter the damaging affect of a rise in the world's temperatures.
Developing nations have called for greater commitments to carbon emissions cuts by the developed nations, who meanwhile are seeking assurances from nations such as China and India over how they will cut their emissions.