$50BN AID DEAL FOR AFRICA
The Prime Minister says G8 leaders have agreed a $50 billion (£29 billion) aid plan for Africa as well as measures to open a new dialogue with the emerging economies on tackling climate change.
Mr Blair said the deal was "not the end of poverty in Africa but it is hope that it can be ended".
Mr Blair said that the Africa plan included a $50 billion "uplift" in aid, the "signal" for a new deal on trade and the cancellation of the debts of the poorest nations.
It also involved universal access to Aids treatment, a commitment to a new peacekeeping force for Africa and a commitment by African leaders to democracy and good governance.
"All of this does not change the world tomorrow. It is a beginning, not an end. And none of it today will match the same ghastly impact of terror," he said.
He said also that the G8 leaders had agreed a further $3 billion package of assistance for the Palestinian Authority.
On climate change, Mr Blair said that a process had been agreed, with a plan of action to open a dialogue with the emerging economies to "slow down and then in time reverse" the rise in greenhouse gas emissions.
He said this would begin with an international meeting in Britain on November 1.
The target of an annual extra $50 billion in aid by 2015, set by the African Commission, has been described as a minimum by many experts.
Sceptical aid agencies will pore over the details when they come to see how much of the money has been previously announced.
They see the summit's conclusions on trade, ending agricultural subsidies in western countries, as crucial to helping the African continent.
Environmentalists have already savaged a leaked communique on global warming which they say leaves the G8 "treading water" in the face of US intransigence.
There are also calls for debt cancellation to be expanded to include more poor nations.
The Prime Minister says G8 leaders have agreed a $50 billion (£29 billion) aid plan for Africa as well as measures to open a new dialogue with the emerging economies on tackling climate change.
Mr Blair said the deal was "not the end of poverty in Africa but it is hope that it can be ended".
Mr Blair said that the Africa plan included a $50 billion "uplift" in aid, the "signal" for a new deal on trade and the cancellation of the debts of the poorest nations.
It also involved universal access to Aids treatment, a commitment to a new peacekeeping force for Africa and a commitment by African leaders to democracy and good governance.
"All of this does not change the world tomorrow. It is a beginning, not an end. And none of it today will match the same ghastly impact of terror," he said.
He said also that the G8 leaders had agreed a further $3 billion package of assistance for the Palestinian Authority.
On climate change, Mr Blair said that a process had been agreed, with a plan of action to open a dialogue with the emerging economies to "slow down and then in time reverse" the rise in greenhouse gas emissions.
He said this would begin with an international meeting in Britain on November 1.
The target of an annual extra $50 billion in aid by 2015, set by the African Commission, has been described as a minimum by many experts.
Sceptical aid agencies will pore over the details when they come to see how much of the money has been previously announced.
They see the summit's conclusions on trade, ending agricultural subsidies in western countries, as crucial to helping the African continent.
Environmentalists have already savaged a leaked communique on global warming which they say leaves the G8 "treading water" in the face of US intransigence.
There are also calls for debt cancellation to be expanded to include more poor nations.
