THE cost of reducing carbon pollution and mitigating climate change will fall dramatically as the number of nations participating in a global deal rises, according to a new report backed by former British prime minister Tony Blair.
The report was presented by Mr Blair to United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in New York overnight, as world leaders prepare for major climate meetings there and in Pittsburgh this week.
Using modelling by Cambridge University economists, the report argues that larger markets and lower costs would emerge as more nations joined a deal to cut carbon pollution.
Compared to the European Union acting in isolation to cut carbon levels, the report claimed a global deal would reduce the carbon price 15-fold. The report said 10 million new jobs could be created by 2020 if nations agreed to an ambitious carbon deal at December's climate meeting in Copenhagen.
''The report shows that an ambitious deal can be good for both economic growth and employment,'' Mr Blair said.