UK Prime Minister Tony Blair is to make a major address on global warming tomorrow, and is already speaking publicly about his "shock about how the speed of this is gathering."
UK enviros fear that while he may talk tough--including the promise to use Britain's upcoming chairmanship of the G8 to bring about environmental reforms in the industrialized world--actual policy pronouncements will be lacking:
He will warn of forecasts that sea levels could rise by another 88cm by the end of the 21st Century, threatening 100 million people around the planet.
He will echo the government chief scientist's [Sir David King, mentioned here on WorldChanging] warnings that "unchecked climate change has the potential to be catastrophic in both human and economic terms"...
BBC environment correspondent Sarah Mukherjee said Mr Blair's speech risked disappointing environmental campaigners if no specific policies were outlined.
She said one campaigner who worked closely with the government had said he believed the prime minister wanted to stop climate change - but was not convinced Mr Blair knew what that meant in practice...
The prime minister may also face pressure to take action to push US President George Bush to take climate change seriously.
Tony took George seriously about Iraq, after all; George owes him one.
