Beckett appoints climate change ambassador

London: British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett, credited with helping to push global warming up the international agenda last year, ratcheted up her campaign yesterday by appointing a climate change ambassador.

Announcing the appointment of career diplomat and sustainable development guru John Ashton as her Special Representative for Climate Change, Beckett said his job would be to keep up the pressure for international action.

"His primary focus will be to build a stronger political foundation for international action on climate change ..," she said in a written statement to parliament.

Under Britain's presidency of the group of eight rich nations (G8) and the European Union last year, and supported by growing scientific consensus on the scale of the problem, global warming has moved up the political agenda.