G8 on climate change

Update: First hand account of today's peaceful Greenpeace action.


Deal brokered

Traditionally, this sort of thing is smoothed over beforehand. However, this time governments kept fighting publicly until this afternoon. In the end, the divisions got smoothed over with a thin spackle of rhetoric. Most likely the politicians feel quite satisfied at having avoided a public disagreement. But the differences remain obvious for all to see. The final document agreed by the G8 also contains a promise that all leaders will "seriously consider" the binding emission cuts the EU and almost all G8 members have committed to. In other words, Bush will watch, while the rest of the world, hopefully, acts.

The deal is "clearly not enough to prevent dangerous climate change" said Daniel Mittler, climate policy advisor of Greenpeace International at the summit. "Governments failed to commit to what science tells us is necessary here. They must now urgently do so at the United Nations."

What these leaders, of the world's wealthiest nations, fail to take into account is that reducing CO2 emissions by 50 percent, compared to 1990 levels, by 2050 is not a negotiable diplomatic point - it is a physical reality. And, as we’ve already learned from the last 15 years, voluntary measures simply don't work.

Politics aside, the G8 are responsible for over 80 percent of the climate change we witness today, and still emit over 40 percent of all global emissions. They are therefore morally bound to act first and act firmly.

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