THE world must set a series of new goals for a greener economy at a major conference in June, Environment Secretary Caroline Spelman has said.

Mrs Spelman said "sustainable development goals" similar to the Millennium Development Goals which aimed to tackle problems faced by the world's poorest people, were needed to address environmental issues.

The Environment Secretary also called for countries to move away from using GDP as the sole measure of progress towards "GDP+" which would see governments measure the value of natural resources and their people's wellbeing.

She claimed the UK was leading the way on the concept.

Mrs Spelman was setting out her vision for what should be achieved at Rio+20, the UN conference in Rio de Janeiro this summer marking 20 years since the original Earth Summit which set up action to tackle climate change and wildlife losses.