‘Too few commitments to fight climate change’ at G8

EU officials and non-governmental organisations have played down climate change achievements at the G8 last weekend, saying the US did not make enough commitments.

Following the meeting, efforts to achieve global reductions in greenhouse gas emissions will shift to a meeting in Bali at the end of the year, of the countries that are signed up to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.

"It has been a step forward but not exactly what we wanted…the G8 is just one forum. What we are now looking at is the UN process," said an EU official. "The G8 has helped but it certainly could have done more," the official added.

Angela Merkel, Germany’s chancellor, who chaired the G8 meeting, hailed the climate change commitments as "very successful".

Japan and Canada for the first time agreed to cut greenhouse gases by 50% by 2050, compared to 1990 levels. But EU states signed up to such commitments nearly two years ago and confirmed this in March. The US failed to make such commitments but did agree to consider the target.

"The deal is clearly inadequate to address climate change. The US has not accepted an absolute emission reduction but just gave a loose commitment," said Mahi Sideridou, EU climate policy director at Greenpeace.

There was not much expectation that the US would make commitments at the UN meeting in Bali but it was hoped that they would change their attitude to the forum, she added. "We don’t expect there to be much progress but it would be positive if they stopped blocking agreement," said Sideridou.

The fact that the G8 succeeded in pushing climate change up the global agenda was an important step, said one EU diplomat. ‘It could have been better’ is the general feeling around Brussels, but at last we are getting things going now on climate change," the diplomat said.

Aid commitments proved even more of a disappointment with no new money pledged to fight poverty at the G8. "On the one hand the development issues were high up the agenda with good decisions particularly on AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis but if you check what was promised in terms of delivering on those promises it’s not very exciting," said an EU official.

A pledge to deliver at least €45 billion to fight these three diseases was criticised by aid campaigners for setting no specific timetable. G8 leaders were also accused of rowing back on aid commitments made at the meeting two years ago in Gleneagles.

The summit was also marked for its lack of progress on World Trade Organization talks on a global trade deal. Despite harsh criticism before the summit of Vladimir Putin’s human rights record in Russia, from US President George W. Bush and UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, the tone of the meeting was largely more conciliatory. But Putin refused to back a French plan to allow Kosovo and Serbia to negotiate an alternative status for the region within six months or see it become independent.

EU officials and non-governmental organisations have played down climate change achievements at the G8 last weekend, saying the US did not make enough commitments.