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Tony Blair promised yesterday to put Britain on a fast track into the global "green industrial revolution" and to lead the world in addressing environmental and agricultural problems.

In his second green speech in four months, the prime minister committed £100m of new money to renewable energy- wind, solarand wave power- and called for radical reform of the European common agricultural policy to help British farmers and developing countries.

"Green technologies are on the verge of becoming one of the next waves in the knowledge economy revolution," Mr Blair said in a speech to the Worldwide Fund for Nature. "The global market for environmental goods and services is projected to rise to £440bn a year in the next nine years. Shell estimates that 50% of the world's energy needs could be met by renewables by 2050. By 2010, the global solar market could be worth £150bn a year. I want Britain to be a leading player in this revolution."

In a wide ranging, sometimes passionate, speech that recalled Margaret Thatcher's awakening to green issues in 1989, Mr Blair restated the threats posed by climate change, desertification, and the abuse of resources - but sought to link them with "hypocritical" policies that exacerbated poverty in poor countries.

"The common agriculture policy is seriously outmoded. It distorts global agricultural markets and promotes forms of agriculture that damage the environment. It is hypocritical of us to to talk of concern to alleviate the poverty of the developing world whilst we block access to our markets.

"There is now an intense urgency about the politics of the environment. We would be irresponsible to treat predictions [about global warming, forest loss and water shortages] as scaremongering. They represent the considered opinions of some of the world's best scientists. We cannot afford to ignore them.

"The effects will be catastrophic for some parts of the world, particularly the poorer parts. Sustainable development is going to be the greatest challenge we face this century."

His comments were welcomed by industry and a plethora of green groups, but other political parties accused him of appealing for the environmental vote ahead of an election.

Charles Secrett, executive director of Friends of the Earth, said: "This is the strongest environment speech Tony Blair has yet made. We hope his commitment to sustainable farming will lead to a clear policy statement on how that shift can be achieved."

Francis Sullivan, of the charity WWF-UK, said: "We see this as a turning point in the government's position on the environment; we hope he follows it through in the next few months and it becomes a major plank of the manifesto."

Conservative environment spokesman Damian Green countered: "It is too late for Tony Blair to try and dress himself in green clothes. He is fooling no one with this sudden burst of fake concern.

"Britain is one of Europe's worst performers on renewable energy, one of Europe's worst performers on recycling domestic waste, and for the first three years Mr Blair's government blocked the construction of cleaner gas-fired power stations that emit fewer greenhouse gases."

Mr Blair's points were taken up by other cabinet members. Agriculture minister Nick Brown said that the common agriculture policy was in dire need of reform.

Clare Short, the international development secretary, said environmental degradation and poverty were intertwined. She called for improved trade access for developing countries and the dismantling of agricultural subsidies which damaged the developing world.

But she challenged environmentalists to stop being anti-development: "We must have a positive agenda. If we do not, developing countries will increasingly see environmental concerns as a pre-occupation of the north."

Harnessing the elements

The potential for alternative energy sources has been explored for 20 years but never became popular because of lack of government support.

Wind power is already commercially viable at some sites and is the fastest developing renewable energy in the UK. Despite having more potential than anywhere else in Europe the technology has made a slow start because of the countryside lobby, which has campaigned successfully against onshore wind farms. However, there is virtually no opposition to offshore wind power. Its advantage is that much larger turbines can be used and the wind blows steadily out to sea, adding to efficiency.

The drawback is the extra cost of installation and the length of cables to the shore. In the last few months, and with another boost from the prime minister yesterday, the off-shore wind industry is about to take off. The crown estates are due to allocate 10 sites for offshore wind farms and industry has put up £1bn to build them. The UK has high hopes of reaching 5% of electricity supply from wind power by 2010, while the rest of Europe has higher targets.

Solar power has the greatest potential worldwide and could, in theory, provide 85% of UK energy needs. Germany, with a programme to build 100,000 solar roofs, and Japan, with 70,000 already under way, are ahead of targets. However, the UK has fewer than 10 properties providing power to the national grid and would require £30m a year to catch up.

Greenpeace and others have pushed hard for the government to take up the challenge posed by other industrial nations and were celebrating Tony Blair's conversion yesterday. Solar Century, a company promoting solar power, said if every south facing roof in Britain carried a solar panel it would generate 85% of the country's electricity needs.

Wave & tidal power is a great resource for the UK because we have some of the highest tides in the world and are battered by Atlantic waves, which scientists tell us are getting bigger all the time.

Already there are plans to build three artificial islands off the coast of Wales to capture the incoming tide and generate electricity on the ebb. These islands would also have wind turbineson top and wave power generatorsattached making them energy islands. They would also have the advantage of creating protection against storms. Unlike wind, tides are predictable so suppliers would know years in advance the precise energy yield from this technology.

Taken together these technologies could provide up to 50% of the UK's power.

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