Blair challenges New Zealand to fight against global warming

March 29, 2006 British Prime Minister Tony Blair sees New Zealand facing the challenge of playing a significant role in the fight against global warming. He mentioned in a video conference between Auckland and a conference hosted by Victoria University of Wellington that the country could be a important factor in performing that change. It could persuade others to adopt reasonable policies for sustainability, he told a conference in Te Papa.

Tony Blair, who visited New Zealand for 24 hours, said that the pressure must be kept on governments to address climate change whether or not they are signatories to the Kyoto Protocol. He encouraged ordinary people as well to take part in solving this great task: "One of the things you and other people can do is keep up the pressure... there are going to be some difficult decisions for government".