UK's Gordon Brown asks World Bank to finance clean energy development

Story from:

http://www.itv.com/news/index_1173510.html


Brown delivers green power push to IMF / G7 / G8

Gordon Brown has called on the world's top industrial nations to put more money into tackling climate change.

The Chancellor was in New York for talks with his fellow G7 finance ministers on proposals for a $20 billion scheme to help developing economies invest in alternative energy sources.

He insisted there was a moral need to tackle climate change, saying: "For the well-being of the world's peoples to be enhanced not just in this generation, but in succeeding generations, we have a compelling and even more urgent duty of stewardship."

But Mr Brown said the need to cut greenhouse gases must be balanced with the UK's economic needs.

He made clear that he was not planning any increase in taxes on petrol to encourage people to cut their carbon emissions.

The Chancellor's comments follow a trip to Norway on Friday by Conservative leader David Cameron to see the effects of global warming first-hand.



from Reuters.co.uk:


Gordon Brown wants world consensus on environmental policy

By Fiona Shaikh

LONDON (Reuters) - The world must reach a new consensus on tackling environmental issues, Chancellor Gordon Brown will argue this week, as he calls on the Group of Seven rich nations to promote energy efficiency.

In a speech to the United Nations on Thursday, Brown will set out measures to tackle climate change, boosting speculation that he is straying further from his Treasury remit in the hope of taking over from Prime Minister Tony Blair, who has said he will not fight another election.

Brown's proposals may also help the Labour party wrestle the advantage on environmental issues from the opposition Conservative Party ahead of local elections on May 4.

"Environmental sustainability is not an option, it is a necessity," Brown will say in a speech on Thursday, according to extracts seen by Reuters. "Failure to act on the environment will put at risk future economic activity and growth."

Brown will argue that climate change is partly to blame for some of the humanitarian crises suffered by the developing world and that rich countries must work together to tackle the underlying cause as financial aid is just a short-term solution.

In his speech, Brown will suggest boosting existing measures to cut carbon emissions, for example, extending the European Emissions Trading scheme, with the ultimate goal of setting up a global carbon trading system.

"We will need the cooperation of all countries with significant energy needs and emission levels if we are going to tackle the global challenge of climate change comprehensively and cost effectively," Brown will say.

He will also urge electrical goods manufacturers to make their products more energy efficient and point out that around 10 percent of electricity supply is wasted by items such as televisions, DVD and CD players being left on "standby" mode.

Brown will travel to Washington on Friday, where G7 finance ministers will meet ahead of the semi-annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank.

There, he will try to win support for the World Bank to set up a $20 billion (11 billion pounds) fund to help developing countries invest in alternative energy sources.

He will also use Friday's G7 meeting to call for greater dialogue between oil producers and consumers and enhance transparency on the functioning of the energy market.



UK Chancellor Brown proposes global clean power funding

By Sumeet Desai

LONDON (Reuters) - Chancellor Gordon Brown will this week call for a new $20 billion (11 billion pounds) World Bank fund to help developing countries invest in alternative energy sources in order to combat climate change.

Group of Eight policymakers had asked the World Bank last year to come up with an investment framework to enable middle-income countries shift towards cleaner, more efficient energy such as advanced coal burning techniques.

Brown will tell this week's meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank in Washington that urgent action is needed and with a level of funding that would make a difference to global emissions.

"The developed world has a responsibility to help developing economies meet their energy needs in an environmentally sustainable way," said Brown, who is expected to succeed Prime Minister Tony Blair before the next election expected in 2009.

"I will propose a World Bank facility - a $20 billion fund - for developing economies to invest in alternative sources of energy and greater energy efficiency."

Brown's proposal may also help his ruling Labour party regain the initiative on environmental issues ahead of local elections on May 4 after the government admitted it will not meet its key target to cut carbon emissions.

Conservative Party leader David Cameron, meanwhile, is set to travel to northern Norway this week to see first-hand polar ice caps disappearing because of global warming.

Treasury officials said countries such as China, India, and Brazil are experiencing rapid growth and a corresponding reduction in overall poverty and are now making investments to meet their increased demand for energy.

Their decisions now will influence their carbon emissions over the next 50 to 100 years and so acting now to channel their investment into more efficient or renewable forms of energy generation can lock in less pollution for the long-term.

At the same time, officials said that the world's poorest countries are the most at risk from the effects of climate change such as droughts and floods and there is an urgent need to support them in improving their capacity to respond.

"Climate change is an issue of justice as much as economic development. It is a problem caused by the industrialised countries, whose effects will disproportionately fall on developing countries," said Brown. who also chairs the IMF's main policy steering group.

"It is now clear that the largest impacts of climate change will occur in the great land masses of Africa, Asia and Latin America. Indeed many are already occurring, from reduced rainfall in the Sahel to floods in Bangladesh and Mozambique."