Leaders from the world’s eight strongest economies met this week to forge solutions on climate change, rising oil prices, the global food crisis, Africa and development, as well as the ongoing Doha round of trade negotiations. They took a small step forward on climate change, deciding to halve their emissions by 2050, without, however, agreeing on any specific intermediate targets.
The annual meeting of the G8 (Group of Eight) - comprising Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, and the US - met from 7-9 July at the resort island of Hokkaido Toyako, Japan. Leaders from seven African states and other major emerging economies, including China and India, also participated in this week’s talks with the G8 leaders, making it, with 22 countries, the largest gathering in the event’s 33 year history.
Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, the host of this year’s talks, set the G8 agenda with a strong emphasis on climate change and energy security, stating that he would like to see the meeting conclude with an agreement on targets to halve greenhouse gases by the year 2050. At their meeting in Germany last year, the G8 leaders indicated their desire to consider cutting carbon emissions by 2050, but the US resisted any firm pledge.
At this year’s meeting, the leaders agreed to a ’shared vision’ on climate change, including committing their economies to cut their carbon emissions in half by the year 2050. This marks the first time the US and Russia have agreed to a specific long-term goal for greenhouse gas emission reductions.
However, environmental groups were quick to criticise the G8 ‘shared vision’ on climate change for its low level of ambition and its imprecise nature. The global 50-percent reduction of carbon emissions is not indexed to a specific base year, and the agreement leaves out any specific mention of targets for medium- or short-term carbon emission reductions, instead urging each nation to formulate its own such goals.
Ambassador Koji Tsuruoka (Japan) - who briefed reporters on the decision - stated that the motivation for the broad and legally non-binding agreement was “to engage the rest of the world” - namely major emerging economies like China and India. President Bush has long vowed not to adopt mandatory objectives unless developing countries like China sign on to similar targets. The desire to include major developing countries was reflected in the G8 climate change communiqué released Tuesday: “achieving this objective will only be possible through common determination of all major economies,” the statement said.
The G8 leaders also stressed that progress towards ambitious reduction goals is closely linked with accelerated technology development and diffusion. To this end, the leaders committed themselves to dedicating US$ 10 billion annually to climate technology and research.
Following the G8-only meeting on climate change, they met in an expanded group of the so-called ‘major emitters’, including Australia, Indonesia, South Korea, India, China, Brazil, Mexico and South Africa. Together, these nations, which account for 80 percent of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions, attempted to forge an international consensus for a way forward on global warming.
In the statement released from the joint meeting, all the economies were in agreement that “deep cuts in global emissions will be necessary to achieve the Convention’s ultimate objective” and that cooperative action is required to promote the success of the Copenhagen 2009 climate change conference. They did not agree on any specific targets.
The major emitters also said they would “direct our trade officials responsible for WTO issues to advance with a sense of urgency their discussions on issues relevant to promoting our cooperation on climate change” in order to fully promote the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.
The 2009 G8 Summit will be hosted by Italy.
For a full report of the G8 meeting, see Bridges Weekly, 9 July 2008, at http://www.ictsd.org/weekly/08-07-09/story3.htm
ICTSD reporting; “UN Chief to G8: Climate Change, Food Crisis linked,” THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, 4 July 2008; ” “Africa Takes Centre Stage as G8 Summit Kicks Off,” REUTERS, 6 July 2008; “Ban Ki-moon: Paying the Price for Global Growth,” THE GUARDIAN, 3 July 2008; “G-8 leaders struggle to reach deal on Africa,” INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE, 7 July 2008; G-8 summit opens with spotlight on aid for Africa,” THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, 7 July 2008; G8 countries reaffirm pledges to Africa,” UPI, 8 July 2008; “Financial measures sought against Zimbabwe,” REUTERS, 8 July 2008; “G8 climate deal falls short, critics say,” REUTERS, 8 July 2008.