Blair calls on Bush to engage in the global fight against poverty

Addressing the world's elite, the British premier said action not charity is needed to combat poverty, terrorism and global warming, writes Denis Staunton in Davos

British prime minister Mr Tony Blair has called on the United States to engage with the rest of the world to fight poverty and tackle global warming.

Mr Blair told political and business leaders at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in the Swiss alpine town of Davos that President Bush did not lack idealism.

"If America wants the rest of the world to be part of the agenda it has set, it must be part of their agenda too. It can do so, secure in the knowledge that what people want is not for America to concede, but to engage," Mr Blair said. "The hard-headed approach should stay - the one that says; don't assert it, prove it, face up to the difficult realities as well as the easy platitudes. But difficult reality does not only come in one form," he added.

The British premier said it was time for the world's richest countries to unite around a common agenda of fighting terrorism, promoting freedom and human rights, bringing new energy to the Middle East peace process, combating poverty, disease and conflict in Africa and dealing with the threat of climate change.

Mr Blair called for international aid to Africa to be doubled and for 100 per cent debt relief for the most highly indebted nations, but stressed that charity was not enough.

"We cannot confront the endemic perpetual crisis of African poverty on any basis other than a partnership between African Governments and those of the developed world. The old donor/recipient relationship is patronising and unworkable.

"But we need to help African leadership grow further, building democratic and institutional capacity that allows African nations to govern effectively, create proper political, legal, fiscal and commercial systems of sound government and root out corruption," he said.

Mr Blair acknowledged that there was little hope of persuading the US to sign the Kyoto Protocol that commits countries to reduce the emissions that are believed to cause global warming. He said, however, that neither governments nor businesses could ignore the mounting evidence of a link between greenhouse gases and climate change.

"My view is that if we put forward, as a solution to climate change, something which involves drastic cuts in growth or standards of living, it matters not how justified it is, it simply won't be agreed to. But fortunately that need not be the case. Science and technology cannot alone provide the answer. But they certainly provide the means to ensure that we can reduce greenhouse gas emissions without damaging our economy. Indeed, over time they provide the prospect of significant business and economic opportunities," he said.

Earlier yesterday, the French president, Mr Jacques Chirac, called for a new international tax to finance the global fight against AIDS. Addressing the World Economic Forum meeting by broadcast link, Mr Chirac said that a tax of 0.01 per cent on international financial transactions could raise $10 billion a year.

"To finance research into a vaccine, develop prevention campaigns and remove the remaining obstacles to access to care for HIV/AIDS, we need to mobilise at least ten billion dollars per year, instead of six, as is the case at present," he said.

The French president said that alternative possibilities for raising the necessary revenue included an extra tax on airline and shipping fuel and a small levy on all airline tickets sold throughout the world.

He also suggested that countries such as Switzerland, which maintain banking secrecy, should impose an extra tax on flows of foreign capital in and out of their territory.

Mr Chirac said that an extra $10 billion a year would make it possible to strengthen health care systems in the countries most affected by the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

"We could commit, in the poorest countries or those most affected by this plague, to move towards the universal and free provision of treatment for sufferers.

"The examples of Brazil and Senegal, in particular, show that this is economically feasible and also effective in terms of public health," he said.