Livingstone focuses on climate

London: London's Labour Mayor Ken Livingstone put climate at the core of his re-election campaign yesterday, trying for the first time in Britain to make the environment a key electoral issue.

With Livingstone and his main opponent Conservative mayoral candidate Boris Johnson being actively backed by the leaders of their national parties, the campaign could have implications for the next general election due by mid-2010.

London is seen as the jewel in the crown for both Labour Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Conservative leader David Cameron. Losing the May 1 election would be a blow for Brown, trailing badly in opinion polls after just nine months in office, but a boost for Cameron.

"Climate change and the environment is the big issue that confronts the world at the beginning of the 21st century," Livingstone said.

"Protecting and improving London's environment is both about a higher quality of life for us all today and about the kind of city we leave for our children and grandchildren."

Uphill struggle

But he faces an uphill struggle, dogged by accusations of nepotism and arrogance and with the gaffe-prone Johnson 12 points ahead in opinion polls.

While Brown's predecessor Tony Blair managed to put global warming on the international agenda in 2005, and Brown made much of the greenness of his successive budgets as Chancellor of the Exchequer, the issue has not featured in national elections.

Little in Livingstone's environmental manifesto is new after two consecutive terms in office, making it all the more difficult for his opponents to match or beat.

He has already said he aims to cut the city's climate changing carbon dioxide emissions by 60 per cent by 2025, a far more ambitious target than the government's plan.