Actress and scientist offer to pay PM to go to climate talks

Actress Lucy Lawless. Photo / Herald on Sunday

Prime Minister John Key will be offered $4781 by Lucy Lawless and Jim Salinger today in an attempt to get him to a climate change conference in Denmark next month.

The international climate change meeting in Copenhagen will be a big step towards getting world leaders to agree on greenhouse gas emissions targets, but Mr Key has said he won't attend.

He said yesterday there was little chance a binding treaty would be signed in Copenhagen - despite earlier talk of an international resolution being on the cards.

Mr Key said he was comfortable sending Environment Minister Nick Smith to represent New Zealand.

His attitude has not gone down well with Greenpeace, which has been running a "Key to Copenhagen" fundraising drive involving cake stalls, sausage sizzles and donations.

Dr Salinger, a climate scientist, and actress Lawless have been tasked with presenting the proceeds to Mr Key, and plan to visit Parliament early this afternoon with the cheque and a boarding pass to Copenhagen.

"Copenhagen is the most important meeting of our time - it could set us on the path of positive change, or put the planet on a road of destructive climate change," Dr Salinger said.

"Despite recent suggestions the talks are set to fail, all that's required to make them work is political will at the highest level."

Dr Salinger said world leaders were the only ones who could make the meeting a success - not the bureaucrats representing them.

- NZPA