Strasbourg, 23.11.2009 – John Prescott (United Kingdom, SOC), the rapporteur on climate change of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE), today called on the leaders of the United States, China and India to personally take part in the Copenhagen climate change conference in December.
Mr Prescott, a former British Deputy Prime Minister who played a key role in negotiating the Kyoto Protocol in 1997, said: “These talks are vital for the future of the planet. These three countries can make the difference between success and failure. It is vital that their leaders are there, alongside the 60 other presidents and prime ministers who have already said they are coming.” He was speaking at a meeting of PACE’s Environment Committee today in Paris.
Mr Prescott said he would ask the President of the Parliamentary Assembly Lluis Maria de Puig to make a personal appeal to US President Barack Obama, Chinese President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao, as well as Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, inviting them to attend. “This could be settled, as at Kyoto, by political leaders in a last-minute deal on the principles and a road map, for finalizing by the COP. We need the three most important ones to be there.”
In a September resolution, the Assembly – representing 47 parliaments across greater Europe – called on developed countries, which are responsible for most past carbon dioxide emissions, to take the lead at Copenhagen by agreeing to “deep and early cuts” in greenhouse gases.
