Scientists say the climate is warming Tony Blair must increase efforts to persuade the US and Russia to sign the Kyoto treaty to tackle global warming, says a House of Lords committee. The Kyoto measures cannot come into effect without support from one or both of the two nations, says the group.
The new report warns that greenhouse gases from the US and Russia could have devastating consequences for the world.
The British environment secretary has told the Guardian newspaper other nations expect leadership from the UK.
Global action
Kyoto was signed in 1997 and calls on industrialised countries to cut emissions of greenhouse gases such as carbon monoxide by 2008-12.
To come into effect, it needs the support of developed nations responsible for 55% of such emissions.
If people expect us to create a greater momentum, and then if we are unable to do so, that would cause a lot of alarm
Margaret Beckett Environment Secretary
Since US President George Bush pulled out in 2001, Russia is the only country big enough to carry Kyoto over the 55% threshold.
Russian President Vladimir Putin last month buoyed environmentalists' hopes by promising to move quickly towards ratifying the protocol.
In their report, the Lords select committee on science and technology says global warming can only be tackled by global action.
Big players
Labour peer Lord Mitchell, who chaired the inquiry into the scientific basis of treaties, said: "We have seen examples in the past of successful international action - for instance the Montreal Protocol, which led to a reduction in the use of the CFCs, which are destroying the ozone layer.
"The Kyoto Protocol will ensure that nations begin to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.
"It gets the process up and running. But it cannot come into force without ratification by the United States or Russia, preferably both.
"The government must do everything in its power to persuade both these countries to take action."
The peers call for more scientific expertise to be provided within government departments, as well as a more joined up approach across Whitehall.
Reality check
Support for research in Antarctica must continue, they say, and there must be a scientific approach to risk.
The committee includes former Foreign Office chief civil servant Lord Wright of Richmond and former Meteorological Office boss Lord Hunt of Chesterton.
The government's chief scientist, Sir David King, has said global warming is a bigger threat to the world than international terrorism.
In an interview for the Guardian newspaper on Wednesday, Environment Secretary Margaret Beckett talks of the "grim reality" of climate change.
And she points to the expectations other countries had in Britain.
"We are seen as people who really care about this, and therefore if people expect us to create a greater momentum, and then if we are unable to do so, that would cause a lot of alarm," says Mrs Beckett.
Montreal Protocol Treaties http://www.epa.gov/ozone/intpol/
New World Order Rising? - Thoughts on the UN World Summit on Sustainable Development
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/743512/posts?page=10
Interesting. The Democrats, the regulators, and the environmentalists have worked together to shut down the building of any new refineries in the United States for many years. As we saw recently in California, not even a huge energy crunch can persuade these people to relax the restraints and delays on building.
This article says that refiners must invest in new coking technology. But why must they? Corporations only invest if they see reasonable prospects for profit, or for protecting profits.
The Democrats will see this as a further opportunity to disrupt the markets, raise the price of gasoline and fuel oil, and blame it on Bush.
yawn....
How many were killed by global warming on 9/11?
How many since? I'll take a rough estimate.
Stupidity is a bigger threat than global warming.