At the heart of Brown's plan is a call to reduce global carbon dioxide emissions 80 per cent by 2020, far more radical than any of the global agreements currently being discussed.
The key for Brown is to lessen our dependence on coal. As things stand, more than 1,400 new coal plants are expected to be built by 2020. If that happens, Brown says the fight is as good as lost. What we need to do is develop renewable sources of power, maximise efficiency solutions and expand the earth's forests. By doing this we should negate the need for any new coal plants.
In order to fund this, a worldwide carbon tax needs to be introduced, beginning at $20 (€13.50) per tonne each year between 2008 and 2020, rising to $240 (€162) per tonne at the end of that period. This would be used to cover all the environmental and health costs of burning fossil fuels.
Brown's plan would cost an extra $190 billion (€128 billion) per year, which he says is little compared to the global military budget of $1.2 trillion (€800 billion). The real battle, he argues, is not over logistics, or technology, but whether or not the political and popular will exists to implement his plan.
