Gordon Brown pledged to make Britain a world leader in the battle
against global warming, with a green "technological revolution" which he
said could create hundreds of thousands of jobs in the UK.

In his first major speech on the environment since becoming Prime
Minister, Mr Brown hinted strongly that he is ready to extend the
Government's target of a 60% cut in Britain's greenhouse gas emissions
by 2050, revealing that he has asked an independent committee of experts
to look at the possibility of an 80% goal.

He announced talks with supermarkets and other retailers over the
elimination of throw-away plastic carrier bags from British shops.

And he launched a new Green Homes initiative, with a website and phone
hotline to advise householders how they can reduce the carbon footprint
of their properties.

Environmentalists welcomed Mr Brown's confirmation that Britain is
"absolutely committed" to meeting its share of an EU target to generate
20% of Europe's power from renewable sources by 2020.

The commitment could see a surge in energy from wind, waves, solar
panels, waste and biomass, starting with an announcement expected soon
from Business Secretary John Hutton for a "significant" expansion in
offshore windfarms.

Speaking ahead of December's international climate change summit in
Bali, Mr Brown published a statement setting out Britain's vision of a
new global low-carbon economy to hold the rise in average temperatures
to two degrees Celsius or less.

And he said that any agreement stemming from the Bali talks should
include "binding emissions caps" for all developed countries after 2012
to ensure greenhouse gases peak within 10-15 years and are reduced by at
least half by 2050.

The international community faces a "historic and world-changing"
challenge to build a low-carbon economy over the coming 50 years, Mr
Brown told the conservation charity WWF in a speech in central London.

But he said the task was both "technologically feasible and economically
rational" and held out the promise of new environmental industries
generating £1.5 trillion annually and employing 25 million people
worldwide - one million of them in the UK.