“A giant step to unanimity”
G8 leaders show constructive approach at the “anti-crisis” summit
The less time there is left for the activity of G8, which may be replaced by G20, a group of 20, in the near future, the more active and constructive the work of this club, which includes the world’s eight most developed states. The L’Aquila Summit was very demonstrative in this respect as the leaders of the eight countries showed unanimity in many respects. The three-day summit was attended by representatives of a total of 30 countries of the world. This is a record-breaking number of invitees since the international club was founded.
One of the greatest achievements on the first day was the agreement according to which the countries with developed industries will reduce by 2050 the amount of emissions by 80 percent comparing to the 1990 levels. This means that for the first time the largest and most polluted economies agreed to prevent the atmosphere from warming more than by 2oC in the next 40 years, which is an important aim of fighting the climate changes.
Other countries are to cue greenhouse gas emissions by 50 percent. This level is even higher than what was expected. Observers believe that this happened primarily because the new US administration has changed its position on this issue.
The achieved agreement means that the investments should be re-targeted at the construction of new nuclear power stations that work using the energy of wind, the sun, and other renewable resources rather than mineral resources. Besides, the rich states will have to allocate billions dollars to help the poor ones so that the latter would emit less harmful substances in the course of their development than the industrial world has been emitting in the recent 150 years.
However, Italy’s Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi noted that the consent of India and China is needed for this; otherwise any emission reductions in Europe and the US will be inefficient. The members of the Indian delegation who had joined the G8 discussions already stated that fighting the climate change and reduction of atmosphere emissions should be performed neither at expense of the economic growth nor lead to a decline in the population’s standard of living. The president of the People’s Republic of China Hu Jintao, who was supposed to take part in the meetings, decided to return to Beijing because of the riots in northwestern part of the country.
As had been expected, the world leaders confirmed the previously announced actions to manage the world financial crisis and support the economy and the world’s financial markets. In particular, they considered Italy’s proposals concerning the development of the Global Standard and agreed to create the Lecce Framework Program to form general principles and standards of proper economic behavior. It was in the Italian city of Lecce that the fundamentals of these principles were agreed on at the conference of G8 finance ministers.
Furthermore, G8 leaders pledged to support and sustain the development of the poor African states and the social side of the crisis. The document adopted at the summit underlines that the impact of the economic crisis on the job markets may undermine social stability. Therefore, a reasonable macroeconomic policy should be linked to the labor and social policy aimed at reducing unemployment, creating conditions for quick return of employees to the job market, and preventing of social isolation.” The “people first” principle has also been approved on the initiative of the Italian side at the Rome meeting of the ministers of labor and social policy before the summit.
At the L’Aquila Summit G8 achieved “great unanimity” concerning the situation in Iran. The Italian Agenzia Nazionale Stampa Associata (ANSA) reported that in this respect President Nicolas Sarcozy of France called the adoption of the political statement of G8 leaders concerning Iran “a giant step to unanimity.”
According to Sarcozy, G8 leaders will reconsider the situation in Iran at the G20 summit to be held in the American city of Pittsburg on September 24–25. “If there is no progress by this moment, we will have to adopt a resolution,” the French president said. He added that G8 leaders expressed serious concern concerning the events that have been taking place in Iran since the presidential elections. The participants of the summit confirmed their respect for Iran’s sovereignty but at the same time condemned the violence that took place after the elections and led to casualties.
G8 leaders condemned Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for his denial of the Holocaust and called on him to keep to the nuclear non-proliferation declaration.
The participants of the summit also condemned the launch of ballistic missiles and nuclear tests by North Korea. They stated that the actions of North Korea “pose a threat to peace and stability within and beyond the region,” and called on the country to avoid any other violations of the UN resolutions and take part in the six-sided negotiations.
The summit also supported American President Barack Obama’s initiative to conduct a high-level international meeting in Washington in March 2010 to address nuclear security issues.
The G8 2009 summit can be deservedly called an “anti-crisis” meeting. It will also stay in the memory of its participants as one of the most ascetic G8 summits ever. The heads of the states and governments stayed in a city that had suffered from a destructive earthquake this year, so their living conditions cannot be called anything but Spartan.
