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Climate Change
The G8 were unable to agree on a global target to keep temperature rises below 2 degrees which is really disappointing but important steps towards a global deal were made which was more encouraging.
They decided that the UN is where future agreements should be made, and they agreed that a global deal needs to be made by 2009 to make sure there isn’t a gap between when the current Kyoto Protocol finishes in 2012 and when this new deal would start.
Although the G8 have said they think the UN is the place to have these discussions, a global goal on limiting temperature rise, so that the reductions in emissions can be calculated, still needs to be agreed. It’s vital that all the members of the G8 and other major, industrialised countries like Brazil, China, India, Mexico and South Africa show leadership by committing to specific targets to prevent a 2 degree rise in temperature.
There were no concrete decisions made on helping poor communities to adapt to the effects of climate change. The members all agreed that developing countries are particularly vulnerable but they didn’t actually say they were going to do anything about it.
All this means that negotiations must start in December at the Conference of the Parties, the annual meeting of the UN that focuses specifically on climate change. Only if negotiations on a new international deal start at these talks in Bali, Indonesia, and are concluded by the end of 2009 can we say that the world is on course to avert catastrophic climate change.