EU Kyoto Negoitator John Prescott has given his response to President Obama’s speech, saying he must do more to help secure a political agreement that is credible .

In a vlog on his New Earth Deal website (www.newearthdeal.org) he says:

“Well I’ve heard President Obama’s speech here in Copenhagen and I do have to say to him, it’s wonderful to hear an American President say we’ve got to do something and get action not talk.

“But I was a little bit put out when he said nothing has happened since the Kyoto. That’s certainly true in America but not in Europe. We lived up to a lot of our Kyoto oblogations and the deal President Obama has announced is still less than what European nations have observed since Kyoto.

“It’s still the largest and wealthiest nation and the greatest emitter. So hopefully that speech is a statement of his position at the moment. But when he gets in the room with Gordon and others he’s going to have to offer a little bit more.

“As I told the Chinese environment minister, he’s got to wriggle a little bit more and Europe’s got to be talking about 30% as the minimum not the maximum.

“All these three groups have got to make a change so let’s hope that’s going to happen in the next couple of hours so we do have a political agreement that is credible.”

Former UK Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott was in Copenhagen for the United Nations Climate Change Convention (COP15.)

Mr Prescott was there as the Rapporteur on Climate Change for the Council of Europe and leading its New Earth Deal campaign for a fairer deal for the developing countries. You can follow his daily diary at www.newearthdeal.org.

The Council of Europe’s Rapporteur on Climate Change John Prescott speaking in the House of Commons, urging President Obama, China’s Premier Wen and India’s Prime Minister Singh to go to Copenhagen.

The Council of Europe has passed a resolution urging all three leaders to attend the UN Climate Change Conference in December in order to secure a deal.

Mr Prescott, who was the EU negotiator at Kyoto, said all word leaders must “sit in that damn room and come to an agreement and don’t let them out before that!”

You can find out more about the Council of Europe’s New Earth Deal for a fairer deal for the developing world at Copenhagen, then go to www.newearthdeal.org

John Prescott, the rapporteur on climate change of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE), has called on the leaders of the United States, China and India to personally take part in the Copenhagen climate change conference in December.

Mr Prescott, a former British Deputy Prime Minister who played a key role in negotiating the Kyoto Protocol in 1997, said: “These talks are vital for the future of the planet. These three countries can make the difference between success and failure.

“It is vital that their leaders are there, alongside the 60 other presidents and prime ministers who have already said they are coming.”

He was speaking at a meeting of PACE’s Environment Committee in Paris.

Mr Prescott has asked the President of the Parliamentary Assembly Lluis Maria de Puig to make a personal appeal to US President Barack Obama, Chinese President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao, as well as Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, inviting them to attend.

He added: “This could be settled, as at Kyoto, by political leaders in a last-minute deal on the principles and a road map, for finalizing by the COP. We need the three most important ones to be there.”

In a September resolution, the Assembly – representing 47 parliaments across greater Europe – called on developed countries, which are responsible for most past carbon dioxide emissions, to take the lead at Copenhagen by agreeing to “deep and early cuts” in greenhouse gases.