THE GUARDIAN

 

 
Praise for 'green Queen'

Luke Harding
Thursday November 4, 2004

The Queen earned unusual plaudits from Friends of the Earth yesterday after opening one of the most important and high-profile summits on climate change to be staged in Europe.

The monarch met German and British teenagers in Berlin, watching as they showed the effects of global warming using a model of the Earth. "I'm hugely happy that the Queen is identifying herself with this issue," said Klaus Töpfer, the UN's environment programme chief. "She is showing that we have to act."

The Queen's presence at the summit follows reports that she told Tony Blair of her grave concerns over the US's role in global warming.

Last night environmental groups said her intervention in a debate that has split the US government from most of Europe was "significant". Tony Jupiter, FoE's executive director, said. "Her participation will ... send a strong message around the world ... on the need for urgent action on global warming."