|
Davos: The volatile situation in Pakistan and climate change took centre stage at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Thursday, with Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf holding talks with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
During their meeting, Rice stressed that elections taking place in Pakistan next month had to be seen to be "free and fair" and carry the "confidence" of the Pakistani people.
Davos was the latest stop on Musharraf's European tour aimed at bolstering his image overseas after months of turmoil and the assassination of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto in December.
Earlier on Thursday, former US vice president and climate campaigner Al Gore warned delegates at the forum that the global climate crisis was "significantly worse" than previously thought.
Sharing the stage with U2 frontman and Davos regular Bono, in an effort to combine the fights against climate change and poverty, Gore said, "This is a planetary emergency. There has never been anything remotely like it in the entire history of human civilisation. We are putting at risk all of human civilisation."
Gore backed a proposal for a tax on carbon emissions that would be applied across the whole world, "so that those who don't pay the price for carbon don't have an advantage over those who do."
Africa activist Bono said, "The brunt of this climate crisis is going to be felt in the developing world. All your work... will be undone if you don't focus on this."
|
