GORDON Brown has called for an overhaul of international institutions to cope with the twin threats of global economic turmoil and climate change.

The prime minister said organisations such as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the United Nations (UN), needed to be reformed in order to meet the challenges of the modern world.

Addressing a conference of centre-left world leaders this morning, Brown said: “We now have to reshape our global rules and global institutions for this new era.

“We are facing a global financial crisis which is probably the first truly global financial crisis of the modern world.

“We have to reform our global financial institutions. It is absolutely clear that the national supervision that we have is inadequate and we need a global agreement.”

Brown said the IMF needed to become an effective “early warning system” for the international economy and the World Bank should help developing nations towards greener economic growth.

The prime minister also called for the development of an international reserve force of volunteers which could be deployed to rebuild countries such as Bosnia and Rwanda following military conflict.

Arriving this morning at the Progressive Governance Conference in Watford, Hertforshire, Thabo Mbeki, the South African president, rejected calls for international intervention in Zimbabwe. Mbeki said he believed that the current situation was “manageable”.

He was responding to an appeal by the opposition Movement for Democratic Change for the UN to step in to ensure that Zimbabwe does not erupt into violence following the disputed election results.

The two-day conference brings together centre-left politicians from around the world including the premiers of Australia, New Zealand and Italy.

Bill Clinton, the former American president, who inaugurated the Progressive Governance movement in 1999, is also attending the talks.

Times Recommends

• Times Christmas appeal: Letter from the Editor
• Conferences — what a waste of money
• Schools supremo learns a painful lesson