Britain, New Zealand in step on trade, global warming, Clark says
By Suzie Decker,WNS London Correspondent
LONDON - New Zealand's Prime Minister Helen Clark said she and British counterpart Tony Blair were "talking the same language" on climate change and world trade after discussions in London. The pair said links between Britain and its former colony were strong not just for historical reasons but because of their common lines of attack on the world's pressing concerns. "We find when we sit down on issues like climate change, like trade, we're talking the same language," Clark told reporters at Blair's Downing Street office.
She said the pair had discussed their strategies for the United Nations climate change conference in Nairobi, which started Monday and runs until November 17. She said she had been "greatly comforted" by the British government's stance on "food miles" -- the distance food travels before reaching the consumer and its environmental impact. "On the issues of trade, Britain is working as strongly as it can within its circles to ensure we try to get some revival of the Doha round which is pretty critical for confidence in the world economy," she added.
Blair visited Auckland in March, where he made a major speech on tackling climate change, calling for an international agreement while warning that any deal would fail unless it included the United States, China and India. On Thursday he congratulated New Zealand "on the aspiration to be a carbon-neutral economy". "For New Zealand to give this type of leadership at this time is a tremendous signal to send right across the world," he said. "Whether it's on climate change or world trade ... or in the work that we're doing together in Afghanistan, there's an immense amount of common ground."
posted by wnsworld @ 9:40 PM
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