Friends of the Earth has offered to pay for environment minister Michael Meacher to attend this month's Earth Summit, after it was reported his attendance had been vetoed by Downing Street in an attempt to cut costs.

Stung by opposition claims of junketing, Alastair Campbell is said to be behind the decision to leave Meacher in the UK in order to reduce the party to 70 officials and four ministers.

Forum Response: Woodland Trust

Mike Townsend Chief Executive of the Woodland Trust, told ePolitix.com: "The government's apparent decision to leave environment minister Michael Meacher out of the delegation to attend the World Summit on Sustainable Development will send the wrong message to the rest of the world.

"Mr Meacher's undoubted expertise and knowledge of the environment would make him the natural choice for any important gathering to address environment issues. However, following media pressure to cut the number of attendees and costs, the star player has been left off the roster.

"We urge the government to reconsider this action. How we address the depletion of the environment is the key issue in tackling many of the other problems the summit is trying to solve.

"If the world sees the UK, one of the most prosperous and developed countries on the planet, as half hearted in its approach we may as well not bother attending at all."

Forum Response: Envirowise

Dr Martin Gibson, director of Envirowise, told ePolitix.com: "A lack of high level commitment is one of the biggest barriers to improving the environment. The Rio Earth Summit helped the environmental cause considerably because it got senior international politicians to show commitment.

"The UK government is showing unprecedented high level commitment to the forthcoming Earth Summit and this will help to spur others to take environmental improvements seriously."Another problem with trying to gain environmental commitment is that many people and businesses still see it as a niche issue - it is somebody else's problem, not theirs. Environmental experts are not always the most effective at helping people to see that environment is a core issue for everyone.

"If ministers with less visible environmental credentials than Mr Meacher demonstrate the importance of the Earth Summit, their involvement may help to convince those who are more sceptical about environmental issues."