Brussels, 05/07/2005 (Agence Europe) - It will be a highly tense G8 Summit opening on Wednesday evening in Gleneagles (Scotland) under the chairmanship of the British Prime Minister, Tony Blair. Added to the tension caused on Monday by the clashes with anti-globalisation protesters meeting for a counter-summit in Edinburgh will be those indicated by the impossibly contradictory statements of certain leaders of the eight most industrialised countries of the planet on climate change.
The confidence of President Jacques Chirac, who said that he had every hope that the Eight were moving towards an agreement after difficult talks between delegates of the countries in question (EUROPE 8983) gave way, on Monday, to indications in the British press of a draft final press release of the G8 acknowledging the share of responsibility of human activity in planetary warming and containing a direct reference to the Kyoto Protocol, which is the only binding international instrument for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, and which the United States refused to ratify. This encompasses two extremely important elements as, not long ago, this was the bone of contention between the United States, which was initially opposed to these two references (EUROPE 8982), and the leaders of the seven other countries (Germany, Canada, France, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and Russia). In the meantime, president George W. Bush has thrown a spanner in the works by describing the Kyoto Protocol as a "rotten agreement for the American economy", in an interview shown on ITV on Monday evening. "If you're trying to get me to say that I am favour of the Kyoto Protocol, my answer is no", said the American President, pointing out that he was counting on the G8 to discuss the exchange of clean technologies with emerging countries such as China and India.
This should get the message across to Tony Blair that he should not hope to be able to convince President Bush to sign up to the Kyoto Protocol, nor to commit, on behalf of his country, to binding reductions of greenhouse gas emissions mentioning specific figures. This did not dent the confidence of British Home Secretary Jack Straw, who said on Tuesday that he would "remain optimistic" as to the outcome of the G8. A few months ahead of the resumption of international negotiations on climate change (Montréal in December), hoping to step up the fight against global warming with as many countries as possible on board, beyond the first commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol (the Protocol provided for a 5.2% reduction of global emissions by the industrialised countries by 2012 compared to the 1990 level), for the G8 Summit on the climate to break down would not be without consequences.
In a press release, the environmental NGO Friends of the Earth International (FoEi) points out that the G8 countries are historically responsible for 65% of all greenhouse gas emissions, and that it is therefore up to them to act to re-establish a balance, by significantly reducing their own current levels of emissions. This is particularly true of the United States, "the world's largest polluter, contributing one quarter of all emissions despite representing only 4% of the Earth's population", stresses FoEi. The NGO states that it is hoping for a commitment from the G8 countries on the following points: -an average increase in the global temperature not exceeding 2°C above pre-industrial levels; -substantial reductions of their national greenhouse gas emissions, together with a timetable; -innovative and substantial funding mechanisms to increase and diversify energy sources; -emergency aid to the developing countries which are already in the grip of the devastating effects of the climate.
"We hope that the meeting of the G8 in Scotland will lead to something significant to put an end to global poverty and work for climate justice. The impact of climate change will be at its worst in the countries which lack the resources to tackle the issue. It is the moral responsibility of the leaders of the G8 to reduce their emissions and to take the lead in the eradication of poverty", said Duncan McLaren, the executive director of Friends of the Earth Scotland.