Earth Equity News

Skepticism Abounds as G-8 Meeting Commences. By Joseph Coleman, AP, July 7, 2008. "The world's top industrialized nations begin their annual summit today confronted with demands they reinvigorate the world economy, push ahead languishing climate change talks and make good on pledges to battle poverty and hunger. Leaders from the Group of Eight -- the United States, Japan, Germany, Britain, France, Canada, Italy and Russia -- started gathering in the northern Japanese resort village of Toyako yesterday. They're there for three days of meetings among themselves and with heads of African nations and top economies such as China... The meeting's Japanese hosts poured 20,000 security agents and riot police into the isolated venue and surrounding towns, sealing access to the summit hotel and cloistering the 5,000 journalists covering it at Rusutsu, a resort about 30 kilometres away... Climate change was a top agenda item for the Toyako summit. The UN-led talks aimed at forging a new global warming accord by the end of 2009 have stalled because of deep disagreements over what targets to set for greenhouse gas reductions and how much developing countries like China and India should be required to participate... As of yesterday, it was still unclear whether G8 members will be able to agree to a goal of cutting their emissions 50 per cent by 2050. A more ambitious goal of setting nearer-term targets for 2020 were considered well beyond reach. 'I don't think they're going to do much. They're going to kick the can down the road,' said Alden Meyer, a climate change expert with the Union of Concerned Scientists. He suggests real progress awaits a new U.S. president in January."