Earth Equity News

G-8 Conference Ends; Bush Sees Progress; Others Don't. By Michael Abramowitz, WashPost, July 9, 2008. "The leaders of the countries most responsible for greenhouse gas emissions pledged Wednesday to combat global warming, but developing countries such as China and India continued to balk at the approach favored by the United States. The 16 countries, along with the heads of the European Commission, the United Nations and the World Bank, met in an unusual meeting brokered by President Bush during the last day of the Group of Eight summit on the Japanese island of Hokkaido. It was aimed at trying to come together behind a new treaty to replace the Kyoto Protocol, the 1999 pact aimed at curbing carbon emissions. The G-8 leaders also said they expect such developing countries as China and India, which are also major greenhouse-gas polluters, to promise 'meaningful' actions to reduce emissions. That has been a key objective for Bush but presents an obstacle: Those countries have said repeatedly that the industrialized world, having caused most of the problem historically, must bear the greatest burden, while they need more relaxed rules to pursue economic development. There is little sign that the key differences have been resolved... Bush told reporters here that the parties made 'significant progress.'"