Brussels, 19/03/2007 (Agence Europe) - Apart from a statement about protecting biodiversity from now until 2010, little of substance emerged from the meeting in Potsdam, Germany, at the weekend of environment ministers of the world's eight most powerful economies, the G8, and big emerging economies, a meeting convened by the German Presidency of the G8 (see EUROPE 9387). This was the first G8 meeting on biological diversity and combatting climate change, however, and did at least manage to get dialogue going among the planet's most industrialised countries and China, India, Mexico, South Africa and Brazil over how to meet the two biggest environmental challenges facing the globe. Sigmar Gabriel, Germany's environment minister, was not expecting any major agreements to emerge at this stage, happy that the meeting had actually taken place.
Boosted by the EU's position as world leader following the 9 March 2007 European Council agreement on an ambitious 'Energy and Climate' strategy and mandatory targets, the German Presidency was hoping there would be a domino effect/this would spill over in the Potsdam talks, aiming to reach agreement ahead of the next G8 Summit (in Heiligendamm, Germany, on 6-8 June 2007). Climate change is high on the G8's agenda and German Chancellor Angela Merkel hopes the G8 will be able to pave the way for the launch of formal international talks on the post-Kyoto strategy (there will be a United Nations conference in Bali in December 2007) involving as many countries as possible while taking account of their different responsibilities and capacities.
No breakthrough occurred at Potsdam because the United States refused to budge over greenhouse gas emission reduction targets, the creation of a global carbon trading system and financial aid to help developing countries protect the climate and the environment in general. Brazil and Mexico, however, said they were both prepared to join the fight against combat change and against the destruction of biodiversity.
The Potsdam initiative to protect biodiversity until 2010 was the main success of the G8+5 meeting, committing industrialised countries and the five leading emerging economies to provide funding to protract the oceans, research and improving monitoring or species threatened with extinction.
Sigmar Gabriel commented that if human beings had not destroyed so many forests, there would a third less CO2 in the atmosphere (forests have the ability to 'capture' CO2). He mooted the idea of the United Nations publishing a report on the economic impact of the destruction of biodiversity, along the lines of the Stern Report on the economic impact of climate change and the economic costs of failing to tackle it. (an)