21 September 2005
Prime Minister Tony Blair has personally replied to an epetition from the WWF (World Wildlife Fund) on climate change and the G8 summit.
Read Mr Blair’s reponse
Thank you for your email of 4 July and the attached e-petition regarding climate change and the G8 summit.
I am extremely pleased with the outcome of the G8 summit in Gleneagles. The communiqué, which was signed by all G8 Heads of Government and the President of the European Commission, produced some important developments. These included G8 agreement for the first time on the role of human activity in global warming and the need for urgent action.
G8 leaders also agreed to an action plan which consists of a package of actions to combat climate change focused around energy efficiency, cleaner power generation, research and development, financing cleaner energy, managing the impact of climate change, and illegal logging. These actions build on existing work in order to increase the speed with which we can deliver carbon savings.
In addition to this the G8 have engaged with the World Bank and other multilateral development banks to improve the harnessing of funding for clean technology. The communiqué also commits to a new Dialogue between the G8 and other interested countries with significant energy needs on climate change, clean energy and sustainable development.
I believe the outcomes from Gleneagles have helped to bridge the gap between countries in relation to climate change, and I intend to build on this during our current EU Presidency. The European Union (EU) is a world leader on addressing climate change, and I want to ensure that we maintain that status. Specifically, we intend to take forward the development of an EU medium and long-term strategy for tackling climate change. We will facilitate the delivery of our obligation under the Kyoto Protocol to demonstrate that we are on track to meet our reduction commitments. Climate change is also high on the agenda for the EU summits with India, China, Russia and Canada. I also hope to launch negotiations on the incorporation of the aviation sector into the Emissions Trading Scheme.
The UK, as President of the EU delegation, will build on its G8 and EU Presidencies in Montreal at the first Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, where I hope we will get agreement to start negotiations on a post-2012 international framework.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for all the work your organisation is doing on climate change. WWF provides an invaluable contribution both in terms of the contribution your organisation makes to the debate and by running campaigns that highlight the issues.
Usful links
- Read the PM’s Chairman Statement from the Gleneagles Summit
- UN’s Millennium Development Goals (opens in new window)
- Clinton Global Initiative (opens in new window)
- Department for Food, Environment and rural Affairs (opens in new window)
- United Nations World Summit 2005 (opens in new window)
- WWF (opens in new window)
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