As the International Energy and Environment Ministers' Roundtable meets in London (March 15th-16th), the establishment's climate change agenda is dominated by hot air - and completely undermined by an absence of action. Currently Blair's government, and by extension the G8, are capturing both the media attention and the moral high ground on this issue - further marginalising those calling for just and real solutions to climate change.


Blair's talk of making "action on climate change" a top priority for his leadership of the G8 this year may seem difficult to criticise. But his domestic record on cutting carbon dioxide emissions is appalling, characterised by missed targets and hand-outs to the biggest polluters.  Ignoring the worldwide suffering caused by our addiction to fossil fuels, the UK government ploughs ahead with its plans for new roads and airport expansion, and continues to subsidise those that profit from the oil
industry. International processes such as the Kyoto protocol are founded on principles of market environmentalism that consistently put the importance of economic growth above all else. Kyoto utterly fails to address the mass over-consumption of rich, industrialised nations and encourages the unsustainable growth around the world of carbon sequestration projects - so called "Clean Development Mechanisms."
Additionally Blair has hinted that to secure a climate agreement with the support of the US the inclusion and development of new nuclear power stations is essential for providing ‘new clean energy sources' and meeting