What can Blair's climate trip achieve?
March 14, 2008
The former British prime minister, Tony Blair, has begun a lightning tour of three Asian capitals to try to break the deadlock over climate change.
It would be easy to be cynical about Mr Blair's one-man mission to save the planet.
He's already supposed to be bringing peace to the Middle East, stability to Rwanda, and harmony between Islam and Christianity - as well as earning a small fortune in consultancies.
But now he's meeting Japan's Prime Minister Fukuda to try to clear the path towards the G8's deliberations on climate change in the summer.
He flies straight to Beijing where he wants to nudge Premier Wen into reining in China's emissions.
Then it's off to India on Sunday with the task of hauling reluctant politicians towards the climate negotiating table.
Foot soldiers
He's hoping to meet Prime Minister Singh.
Can one man make a difference? Well, maybe.
Some of the foot soldiers stuck in the trenches of the endless climate talks are grateful for a smiling knight on a charger bearing messages between their generals - messages he will take to the White House.
Adam Matthews, secretary-general of the world parliamentarians' environment organisation Globe, said: "One thing Blair does have is fantastic contacts and access - way above most other people you could imagine.
"It's really helpful to get climate change into the offices of world leaders. This is where the difference will really be made."
Mr Blair's mission is unlikely to do any harm (except from his unavoidable carbon emissions).
And he's not charging a fee.
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