Bush Denies G8 Summit A Climate Agreement

by Sanjay Suri

(IPS) GLENEAGLES, Scotland -- The G8 countries remained divided over how to tackle global climate change at the end of their three-day summit here.

"Those of U.S. who have ratified the Kyoto Protocol welcome its entry into force and will work to make it a success," the Group of Eight leaders said in their communique Friday. There were no marks for guessing that the United States was the odd one out.

But the agreement among the rest was also uncertain beyond the end of the first implementation period of the Kyoto Protocol 2008-2012. British Prime Minister Tony Blair has backed President Bush on the need to look beyond Kyoto post-2012.

That can mean that at least the major developing countries could be required to make mandatory emissions cuts of the kind that the Kyoto Protocol requires of the industrialized countries that have ratified the agreement. By 2012 they are to curb climate-changing greenhouse gas emissions by an average of 5.2 percent from 1990 levels.

The communique -- much discussed and debated in the weeks and even final days leading up to the July 6-8 summit of the leaders of the eight most powerful industrialized nations (United States, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and host Britain) -- was strong on agreements on principles, but fell far short of specific commitments.

In the communique issued from the Gleneagles golf resort, the G8 leaders said there is enough scientific evidence to justify moves to "stop and then reverse the growth of greenhouse gases." These gases, carbon dioxide and methane mostly, are produced from the burning of fossil fuels like coal, oil and gas, and lead to global warming which consequently disrupts climate patterns.

The leaders resolved to work with developing countries. "It is in our interest to work together and in partnership with major emerging economies to find ways to achieve substantial reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and our other key objectives, including promotion of low emitting energy systems. The developed countries have the responsibility to act."

The leaders acknowledged also their responsibility to take action in particular situations. "Adaptation to the impacts of climate change resulting from both natural and human causes is an absolute priority for all countries, in particular in those regions that experience the greatest changes, such as the Arctic, sub-Saharan Africa and other semi-arid regions, low-lying coastal zones and small island states affected by sea level rise," the said in their communique.

The leaders said "we will work with developing countries in order to put in place the means to help them build their capacity to overcome these problems, and to include their adaptation objectives in their sustainable development strategies."

The communique said a dialogue on climate change, clean energy and sustainable development will be launched with developing countries. Blair announced later that the first meeting will be held in Britain Nov. 1.

But the communique is short of real substance, climate campaigners said. "The international community is treading water on climate change," Stephen Tindale from Greenpeace told media representatives at Gleneagles. "George Bush has not shifted. The other seven have not shifted."

Jennifer Morgan from the environment watchdog group WWF said that "thanks to George Bush, we were not able to move forward." The wording on science in the communique "does not move U.S. one way or another," she said. "They talk of cutting emissions, but do not say by when, by how much, or even what kind of emissions."

Tindale said that work on tackling climate change would have to proceed without Bush on board. "To bring Bush in would be to reach such a low level of generality that it would not be worth doing," he said. It would be necessary to "re-engage with the United States under a different president."

Bush withdrew the U.S. signature from the Kyoto Protocol in 2001, saying the agreement would have detrimental effects on the U.S. economy. The move is seen as the leading obstacle in global efforts to cut emissions and contain climate change.

Tony Juniper, of Friends of the Earth, called the summit "a missed opportunity for the G8 to reflect on their responsibility in contributing to the problem."

But although the G8 summit had failed to deliver on climate change, the campaign to push it strongly on the G8 agenda had brought "a great increase in public awareness in the last six months," Juniper said. "If George Bush has not got the message, hundreds of millions of people around the world have."

The final communique is a considerably watered-down version of what the British government had proposed earlier. The draft proposal had provided for committing specified amounts of money for agreed targets. The final communique makes no mention of precisely what level of funding the G8 can produce to back its declared aims.

Tindale said the campaign over the efforts to contain climate change will continue. "This is not the end of the game," he said.

A United Nations climate change conference will take place in Montreal in Canada later this year.