Multinational companies such as Starbucks, Kraft and Nestlé do more for developing-world coffee farmers than the Fairtrade Foundation, according to a critical report from a free-market thinktank.

Describing Fairtrade as costly, opaque and substantially unproven, the 130-page report commissioned by the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) says: "Fairtrade requirements [on farmers] may well reflect the subjective views of western consumers and not the real needs of poor producers."

The report specifically attacks the Fairtrade Foundation's refusal to accept child labour and genetically modified technology, suggesting these strictures represent "the whims of western consumers" rather than the needs of farmers.

It's very nearly a wrap for Arnold Schwarzenegger, whose career as governor of California will come sputtering to an end in January with his approval rating in the 20s, the state budget shortfall at $25bn (£16bn), and unemployment at nearly 13%. But, like the action heroes he has so often played, the man they called the governator is already working on a comeback.

In what is likely his last performance on a world stage as governor, Schwarzenegger this week launched the R20 climate network, an alliance of regional leaders who have pledged to work together to fight climate change. Schwarzenegger is the "founding father" of the new venture, a self-appointed global champion in the war against climate change.

Backstage at the performance hall at the University of California, Davis, Schwarzenegger is moments away from revealing to the Guardian the formula that will jolt the world's jaded and divided populace from their dangerous inertia in the face of great peril. First, though, there is the basket of muffins laid out in his backstage dressing room. "This is where the action is. Right here," he says, grabbing one.

How will he approach the fight against climate change? "I always was a big believer in doing things on a global level," he said. "Everything I have ever done, I always was interested in doing it globally – if it was the fitness, if it was the bodybuilding, if it was entertainment and acting and showbusiness."

Schwarzenegger has had more than 40 years of celebrity since storming the world of bodybuilding. He conquered Hollywood. His marriage to Maria Kennedy Shriver catapulted him into America's elite. But he is 63 now. The action-hero physique is bulkier and swathed in suits and ties – bright green at environmental gatherings like this.

Schwarzenegger said he could see a place for himself mobilising world opinion – and investment capital – in support of clean tech projects around the world that together could help reduce global warming.

"I think that I have the talent of speaking the language in such a way so that the world understands it rather than making it complicated," he said.

But don't expect to see Schwarzenegger touring an Al Gore-style scientific slideshow. The governator's version of environmental leadership hinges on avoiding mention of the words climate change or greenhouse gas emissions, which he thinks are a turn-off for some people. "People get stuck and fall in love with their slogans and with their little agendas," he said. "You've got to make it hip. You've got to make it sexy to be part of this movement."

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