Earth Equity News

G-8 Climate Scorecard Shows U.S. in Last. By Patrick McGroarty, AP, July 3, 2008. "The U.S. has done the least among the world's eight largest economies to address global warming, a study released Thursday found. The G-8 Climate Scorecards 2008 [PDF, 48 pp], released Thursday ahead of next week's gathering of the Group of Eight on the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido, also found that none of the eight countries are making improvements large enough to prevent temperature increases that scientists think would cause catastrophic climate changes. The gathering includes the heads of states of the U.S., Japan, Britain, Germany, France, Italy, Canada and Russia. Regine Guenther, director of the World Wildlife Fund Climate Change Program in Germany, told reporters in the German capital that G-8 leaders should commit to reducing emissions in their countries 40 percent by 2020 and 80 percent by 2050. 'If we don't achieve that, the world's climate will change in ways that we can't even imagine today,' Guenther said. The scorecard ranked Britain as the developed nation that has done the most to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and reach targets set by the Kyoto Protocol. France and Germany are close behind. Germany was praised for its investment in renewable energy. 'But all three countries are at best half as far along the road as they should be,' a statement announcing the study said."