Blair urges G8 to back goal to halve emissions by 2050

Former prime minister Tony Blair called on leaders from the Group of Eight powerful nations Friday to back a target to halve global greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 when they meet next month.

Blair said the world must aim for "realistic and practical" solutions to bring on board major polluters, such as the United States and China, as he launched a report by the non-profit Climate Group ahead of the July 7-9 G8 summit in Japan.

He urged the G8 industrialised nations -- Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the United States --- to lead the way in reducing emissions using technology such as nuclear power.

A global consensus could only be possible when leaders can "bridge the gap" between idealism and practicalism, he said at the report's launch in Tokyo.

"That is particularly so when we come not just to China but to America," he said. "People need solutions that are realistic and practical at the same time as moving into the direction of radical change."

Blair said "a substantial renaissance of nuclear power" would be essential to reduce emissions.

To reject nuclear power "would be a big mistake," he said. "I'm aware that that's a controversial thing to say."

The time for simply showing political will was over. Leaders must act to ensure they meet a deadline to create a new treaty at a UN-backed meeting in Copenhagen in late 2009, he said.

But the report, titled "Breaking the Climate Deadlock" compiled by a nonprofit organisation of business and political leaders, made no mention of a specific mid-term reduction target, which environmentalists have strongly called for.

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Source: AFP