Post-Kyoto deal 'must include CO2 targets'

A post-Kyoto deal on climate change will have to include targets for cutting carbon dioxide emissions, the prime minister has said.

Speaking to a committee of senior MPs, Tony Blair said he was talking to President Bush about global warming "virtually the whole time".

And he said that, despite American worries, there would have to be firmer action to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

"In my view this can only be done if you have a framework that in the end has targets within it," he said.

"If you don't get to that point...the danger is you never have the right incentives to invest heavily in clean technology."

Blair said the US "has got a very clear position" on tackling global warming.

"But I think that if we could find a way of ensuring that the right incentives were given without America feeling there was some desire to inhibit its economic growth then I think we can find a way through," he added.

"But there is no point in me speculating on the American position until the conversations and discussions have concluded.

"My own view, as I say, is that they have moved a long way in the last couple of years, but obviously I and many others want to see America move much further."

He added: "In the end, what is necessary to get a climate change deal? What is necessary is to have a framework of incentives so that the private sector together with the public sector develop the science and technology that is necessary for clean energy.

"It is only going to come through the science and technology being developed. One thing that is absolutely essential in this area, in my view, is to dispose of a lot of the nonsense that simply points the finger at America and says America is the only problem in relation to climate change."

Blair said many EU countries were struggling to meet their Kyoto commitments, while India and China remained outside the protocol.

The prime minister also told the Commons liaison committee there were "real signs of change" in US attitudes.

"My assessment of the situation is this: America is very wary, of having some external target, unrelated to their economic growth, pushed upon them form the outside. That is their concern and their worry," he said.

"On the other hand I think they can see the evidence as much as anyone else and there are real issues to do with security of supply."