LONDON (AP):

Bold new laws to tackle the threats of climate change and terrorism were proposed yesterday as Queen Elizabeth II read Prime Minister Tony Blair's final legislative programme aloud in an opulent annual ceremony.

The British monarch said Blair's Government would set out about 30 potential laws over the next 12 months, grouped under a collective theme of "security in a changing world."

The queen said the programme would include "further action to provide strong, secure and stable communities, and to address the threat of terrorism."

Blair confirmed in September that he would quit by the end of August 2007, and analysts said his expected successor, Treasury chief Gordon Brown, is likely to have jointly drafted the new programme.

The queen arrived at London's Houses of Parliament in a gilded carriage amid a cacophony of horns and guarded by mounted cavalry as canons were fired in celebration in nearby Green Park.

New push

Addressing peers, lawmakers and key political figures including ex-Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, the queen said the Government would make a new push to develop the country's first identity card system since World War II.

Announcing plans to put into law a target to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 60 per cent by 2050, the queen said the legislation was part of "policy to protect the environment, consistent with the need to secure long-term energy supplies."

The queen who wore the imperial state crown, studded with 3,000 diamonds said new climate change laws would establish an independent body, the Carbon Committee, to oversee work to reduce emissions.

Blair's Downing Street office said the package was a "a queen's speech for the aspiring majority, the law-abiding, the victims of crime, the vulnerable and for the benefit of future generations."

AP-NY-11-15-06 0654EST