Tough agenda for G-8 chiefs
Climate change and aid to Africa are top issues for leaders of industrialized nations.
from the June 7, 2007 edition
Page 3 of 3
Developing nations coming on board
G-8 nations are realizing increasingly that they can't solve global problems like global warming and product piracy without the help of new economic powers, especially China, which is now the world's fourth-largest economy and the second-largest producer of heat-trapping gases.
"You have to bring them in, because if you don't, there are going to be huge economic convulsions," says Andrew Cooper, associate director of the Center for International Governance Innovation in Waterloo, Ontario.
The area surrounding the summit site has already been convulsed by protests, beginning Saturday, when almost 1,000 were injured in clashes between police and protesters.
Hot topics for Group of Eight
Africa: Germany is pushing for member nations to reaffirm commitments they made at the 2005 G-8 summit in Gleneagles, Scotland, to double development aid to Africa by 2010.
Most members are lagging on their commitments, which total $50 billion, and some have wavered on reaffirming them.
Climate change: Germany wants members to agree to an ambitious plan that calls for reducing greenhouse-gas emissions by 50 percent from 1990 levels by 2050. The plan faces strong resistance from the US. Canada and Russia have also expressed qualms. On the sidelines, China also has said it doesn't want specific targets.
Foreign policy: Leaders will discuss Iran's uranium-enrichment program, humanitarian aid to Darfur, Kosovo's bid for independence, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and a proposed US missile shield in Europe.
Other than Darfur aid, these issues are deeply divisive and will play out against a backdrop of Russia-West tensions.
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