G-8 Calls for action on climate change, IPRs and Africa

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The heads of state of Canada, Germany, Great Britain, France, Italy, Japan, Russia and the United States held their annual summit in Heiligendamm, Germany, on 6-8 June. The compromise they reached on climate change does not commit G-8 members to cut greenhouse gas emissions to half of 1990 levels by 2050, as proposed by Germany. In return for this concession, the US agreed to take part in the negotiation, under UN auspices, of a new climate treaty to replace the Kyoto Protocol after its binding reduction commitments expire in 2012. This substantial shift in US international climate policy followed President Bush’s 31 May announcement that he would convene the ‘major emitters and energy consumers’ of theworld, including developing countries, to jointly develop a new a ‘long-term global goal’ to reduce greenhouse gasses, after which each country would work to achieve the goal by establishing “its own ambitious mid-term national targets and programs, based on national circumstances.” The announcement sparked fears that the US was seeking to bypass the UN as the
forum for addressing greenhouse gas emissions through binding reduction commitments. The G-8 compromise states that member countries will “consider seriously the decisions made by the European Union, Canada and Japan which include at least a halving of global emissions by 2050.” The summit declaration calls for concluding a post-Kyoto pact by 2009, with negotiations to kick off in earnest at the next conference of the parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in Bali this December. However, US participation in a new global greenhouse gas reduction plan remains firmly conditioned on major developing country emitters taking on commitments of their own. G-8 leaders urged emerging economies “to address the increase in their emissions by reducing the carbon intensity of their economic development,” but also reiterated their commitment to the Climate Convention’s principle of ‘common but differentiated responsibility’ in line with countries’ capability to act. So far, developing countries have resisted binding targets, arguing that rich nations have a responsibility to take meaningful action first since man-made global warning is largely the result of their past, as well as current, emissions. However, developing nations such as China and India are now major and growing polluters, although their historical and per capita emissions remain far lower than those of the industrialised world. Both countries have recently announced new initiatives to address climate change. In early June, China released its first comprehensive report on climate change, in which it
declared that conserving energy and managing emissions would now figure prominently in the country’s economic and energy policies. It did not, however, include specific targets, and emphasised that Chinese plans for emissions reductions could not take precedence over economic development. Two days before the G-8 summit, India established a high-level advisory panel to develop a national climate change strategy. The panel – comprised of government ministers, climate experts and industry representatives – is to co-ordinate national action plans for the assessment, adaptation and mitigation of climate change, as well as advise the government on possible ‘proactive measures’. India’s stance on international commitments remains that the developed world ought to make more efforts to cut back on greenhouse gas emissions instead of making demands of developing countries, whose chief imperative is cutting poverty levels. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will convene a special high-level meeting on climatechange on 24 September, just ahead of the 2007 General Assembly opening.

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