| G8 summit issues |
|
|
|
| World Affairs Talk | |
| Friday, 15 June 2007 | |
|
G8 leaders also this time took some far-reaching decisions including an important climate accord. South Africa's President Thabo Mbeki and China's President Hu Jintao were among leaders from emerging nations who were in the Baltic resort of Heiligendamm for talks that focused on aid for the developing world. Merkel hailed the plan to give $60 billion to Africa to combat AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis. The G8 also renewed a commitment made two years ago to increase other aid to Africa by $50 billion dollars a year by 2010. Environment was one of the major points in the leaders’ agenda and eventually got noticed. The G8 agreed to pursue major cuts to dangerous greenhouse gas pollution and promised to seriously consider the goal of halving global emissions by the year 2050. The climate accord however was dismissed by environmental groups as an empty gesture, but other observers hailed the pact for finally tying the United States to the international campaign to fight global warming. The eight leaders agreed that the UN climate process is the proper forum for negotiating potential global action on climate change as they feel, they are dedicated to moving forward in that forum and call on all parties to energetically and constructively participate in the UN Climate Change Conference in Indonesia in December 2007. That summit will start with a view to achieving a comprehensive post 2012 agreement that should include all major contributors. The Group of Eight is an international forum for the governments of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States. Together, these countries represent about 65% of the world economy. The group's activities include year-round conferences and policy research, culminating with an annual summit meeting attended by the heads of government of the member states. The European Commission is also represented at the meetings. The concept of a forum for the world's major industrialised democracies emerged following the 1973 oil crisis and subsequent global recession. In 1974, the United States created the Library Group, an informal gathering of senior financial officials from the United States, the United Kingdom, West Germany and Japan. In 1975, President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing invited the heads of government from West Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States to a summit in Rambouillet. The six leaders agreed to an annual meeting organized under a rotating presidency, forming the Group of Six (G6). The following year, Canada joined the group at the behest of U.S. President Gerald Ford, and the group became known as the Group of Seven (G7). The European Union is represented by the President of the European Commission and the leader of the country that holds the Presidency of the Council of the European Union and has attended all meetings since it was first invited by the United Kingdom in 1977. The Group of Eight nations also called on North Korea to give up all nuclear weapons and missile programmes, completely and it condemned a nuclear test by the reclusive North in 2006, describing the move as "a clear threat" to international peace and security. In its final assertion, leaders of the world's wealthiest nations said, the North must “abandon all nuclear weapons and existing nuclear programmes as well as all other existing weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programmes in a complete, verifiable and irreversible manner”. Iran was also in their agenda; the leaders urged Iran to suspend all enrichment-related and reprocessing activities, and to fully cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Share & Bookmark             |
|
| Last Updated ( Saturday, 16 June 2007 ) |
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
