"We are going to drive. We are going to fly. We are going to take trains and boats," said Sir Bob Geldof, urging people to travel to Edinburgh to confront the leaders of the G8 group of rich nations and persuade them to give more help to Africa in the shape of debt relief and fairer trade.

His rallying cry struck a slightly awkward note since Tony Blair’s other priority at the G8 summit at Gleneagles next month is tackling climate change. Popping on to a plane to travel from, say, Gatwick to Edinburgh is not the best way to show your support, given that greenhouse gas emissions from airliners are a major contributer to global warming.

But if Sir Bob isn’t wording his exhortations to pacify the environmental lobby, support has emerged from another, less expected, source.

Mr Blair yesterday invited international business people, including leaders from Shell, British Airways and Ford, to No10 to discuss his plans for Gleneagles. He would have been pleased to hear that Bud Ris, a senior fellow at the World Economic Forum, announced that business leaders now accept climate change is a serious problem and want to see governments around the world develop a consistent response.

This will not be easy, and Mr Ris hinted at the reasons. Multinationals need to see compatible global-warming regimes not only from the G8 nations - Britain, United States, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Russia - but also from the emerging economic powers such as China, India and Brazil.

However, developing countries will argue that they need to go through a polluting phase, relying on heavy industry, in order to reach economic parity, at some point, with the West. Business might want to see all the world under one climate change umbrella, but nations such as India and China feel large portions of their populations would be left in the economic cold by such a move.

Nevertheless, Mr Ris insisted that business leaders need to be guided by governments. "They are ready to act and to develop technologies, but they need help from governments in setting a clear framework and a clear signal on where we should go on this issue," said Mr Ris. "The Prime Minister was very clear about wanting to see a new direction on the issue, to get the Chinese, Indians, Americans, Europeans in a room together and see if we can move forward."

These turns of phrases echo those used in official White House papers released under US freedom of information laws and seen by Times Online. In one briefing paper prepared for Paula Dobriansky, the Under Secretary, Global Affairs, at the State Department, ahead of a meeting between her and Exxon Mobil she was advised to reaffirm "the President’s commitment to international leadership".

America’s lonely opposition to the Kyoto protocol, a plan that would cap gas emissions, effectively rendered this commitment ineffectual. The same set of papers make it clear why: US politicians cannot be seen advocating a stance that might compromise the economic health of the US, a country that floats on a larger sea of fossil fuels than any other.

Given the clash of interests between the developing world with its factories and the West with its thirsty sports utilities vehicles, it is hardly surprising that business is seeking direction. However, it must come from an honest broker.

Washington’s suitability for such a role was again called into question this week when papers leaked to the press showed that a White House aide had altered official documents to call into doubt the link between human actions and climate change.

Such self-serving actors can not be allowed to impinge on the debate. Sir David King, the UK Government's chief scientist, has made the seriousness of the situation quite clear. "In my view, climate change is the most severe problem that we are facing today, more serious even than the threat of terrorism," he said. The entire world and not just business needs leadership on the issue. We will find out next month whether Mr Blair can deliver it.

Times Recommends

• C&G axed - 1,660 jobs to be lost
• UK house prices rise 1.1% as buyers return
• Mixed reaction to US banks repaying bailouts