Climate Campaigners: Blair Needs to Push More

Only 4 per cent of the nation's population thinks Prime Minister Tony Blair has made effective progress on climate change, despite his claim that Europe must lead the way on conversion to a low carbon economy at last week's European Union energy summit.

|PIC1|According to a new survey published by the Stop Climate Chaos coalition, the public have given Blair a thumbs down on his record of achievement on the issue, with 90 per cent claiming to take small steps themselves to reduce their own carbon emissions.

The survey revealed two thirds of the population is concerned about climate change, and over 40 per cent claim climate change policies would influence their vote.

Thousands will demand political action on climate change on Saturday 4 November at London's Trafalgar Square between 1pm and 3pm for an 'I Count' campaign event, on the eve of crucial global climate change talks in Nairobi.

The survey, undertaken by TNS Omnimas throughout Great Britain, serves as the most recent barometer on a range of personal and political attitudes towards climate change. Results revealed that generally, David Cameron (with 21 per cent) is perceived as the senior politician most concerned about the issue, followed by Tony Blair (15 per cent), Menzies Campbell (7 per cent) and Gordon Brown (5 per cent).

Of the 40 per cent who claimed their vote would be influenced by climate change policies, the differences were more marked with Cameron (32 per cent) again identified as the most concerned about climate change, Blair (18 per cent) second, Campbell (8 per cent) third and finally Brown (4 per cent).

Although Tony Blair's record of achievement was considered disappointing, nearly a third of those surveyed identified tackling the issue as the most important lasting legacy he could leave before he stands down next year, and over half those questioned thought that avoiding climate chaos was achievable.

"This survey should be guaranteed reading for all politicians wanting to connect with their electorate and demonstrates that climate change has significantly risen up the political agenda.

"Public concern about climate change is enormous, and I'm encouraged that nine out of ten take small steps to reduce their carbon dioxide emissions. But public action is not enough and we will be urging politicians to take action too at our 'I Count' event at London's Trafalgar Square on Saturday November 4th," said Ashok Sinha, Director, Stop Climate Chaos.