British Prime Minister Tony Blair called Saturday on the United States, China and India to cut their emissions of greenhouse gases and increase their use of sources of renewable energy.
Speaking to Germany's Bild newspaper ahead of a summit of European leaders to mark the 50th anniversary of the European Union, Blair described the threat of climate change as the greatest challenge facing the 27-member bloc. "I believe that climate change is the biggest long-term threat to Europe and the whole planet," Blair told the Sunday edition of the mass-circulation newspaper.
The British prime minister, who is to leave office later this year, said he was "proud" that Europe was showing that it was prepared to tackle the problem. At a summit in Brussels earlier this month, EU leaders agreed to cut emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) by 20 per cent by 2020, compared with 1990 levels, and to boost renewable energy sources by a similar amount.
They challenged other major users of fossil fuels to cut their emissions, pledging to increase the cut to 30 per cent if they did. Subsequently Blair's Labour government published plans for Britain to become the "first low carbon economy" in the world by setting ambitious national targets for a 60-per-cent cut in carbon emissions by 2050.
Blair told Bild that it was thanks to German Chancellor Angela Merkel that the EU had agreed the cuts, which had paved the way for global progress at the G8 summit in Germany June 6-8. Blair said: "We need an international agreement to limit emissions that includes the US, China and India." The G8 summit could mark a turn in the battle against climate change, Blair said.
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