Brussels, 04/07/2008 (Agence Europe) - The G8 will meet in Toyako on the Japanese island of Hokkaido for a Summit lasting three full days (from Monday 7 to Wednesday 9 July) to discuss climate change, development and oil prices. A few days before the meeting in which Commission President José Manuel Barroso will take part, his entourage said it was “very optimistic” about what will be achieved in Japan.
With regard to climate change, the G8 final statement is expected to be “a step forward”, “progress” on the Heiligendamm Summit which was held under German Presidency in June 2007. At the time, the compromise reached did not allow for binding quantitative targets to be set and spoke only of giving careful consideration to reducing the emissions of G8 countries by 50% by 2050 (see EUROPE 9442). According to the Commission, the Toyako Summit should lead to “clearer language” on the long-term targets (by 2050) for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and to medium-term commitments (by 2020). It welcomed the “progress towards the European position”. To continue this movement, on Wednesday, the G8 leaders will also meet representatives of the five biggest emerging economies, of Australia, South Korea and Indonesia for what is called a Major Economies Meeting (MEM) on climate change and energy. While the conclusions from this meeting may differ from those of the G8 itself, the message is expected to be “convergent”, the Commission says. There will be discussion on the Doha Round trade talks among the members of the G8 and the leaders of the emerging economies and Africa, but it is felt that, for various reasons, including the slight differences even within the EU, it is hard to imagine that there will be a breakthrough. The communiqué will say simply that the G8 hopes that an ambitious and balanced conclusion to the Round will be reached. In more general terms, the world economic situation and soaring oil prices are likely to cause the G8 to lay great emphasis on the needed transparency on oil markets (including the issue of the assessment of stocks) and encourage dialogue between producer and consumer countries.
There will be “no going back” on development aid commitments, the Commission says. Although it is not certain at the moment whether the G8 statement will contain quantitative targets, it is likely to confirm the commitments towards Africa previously made by the industrial countries, notably at Gleneagles in July 2005 (see EUROPE 8987). Although the Commission says that there are “no problems” on the EU side, it is concerned by the overall fall in public aid for development recorded in 2007. (A.B./transl.rt)