http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0711/p07s02-woeu.html
from the July 11, 2005 edition
Overshadowed by terrorism, G-8 summit still secures debt relief
By Mark Rice-Oxley | Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor
LONDON It was meant to be the summit that would take on poverty
and climate change. But ultimately it was another global threat -
terrorism - which overshadowed last week's summit of the world's
richest eight nations.
G-8 leaders signed a series of accords and initiatives on the
environment, and on aid and debt relief for poor countries.
But it was the London bombings which dominated the summit of leaders
from Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, and the
United States, briefly interrupting discussions and distracting
attention from the final outcome.
Summit host and British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who wanted 2005
to be the breakthrough year in the battle against both global
poverty and global warming, said that the meeting at Gleneagles
proved that the G-8 was seeking to spread hope and save life, while
terrorists did the opposite.
"All of this does not change the world tomorrow," he said. "It is a
beginning not an end. But it has a pride and a hope and a humanity
at its heart that can lift the shadow of terrorism and light the way
to a better future."
But aid and development experts said the announced measures fell
well short of the quantum leap needed to spring poor countries into
a new trajectory out of poverty, disease, and decline. They said the
measures would not enable the rich world to match up to the UN's
Millennium Development Goals, a pact made five years ago to halve
world poverty by 2015.
The following catalog the broad agreements reached and analysts'
verdicts:
Debt relief
The G8 confirmed its plan, unveiled last month, to write off the
debts owed by 18 poor countries to multilateral lenders like the
World Bank and IMF. No new initiatives were disclosed. Debt
campaigners welcomed the accords, but said more than 40 additional
countries also urgently needed debt relief.
Aid
Mr. Blair did manage to get his peers to double development aid - to
some $50 billion by 2010. He admitted this was just the beginning,
and would not immediately eradicate poverty in Africa. Some
campaigners, notably the ubiquitous Bob Geldof were impressed. But
others noted that some of the increase has already been announced
under separate deals, and were dismayed at the five year delay until
the magical figure is reached.
"The people have roared but the G-8 has whispered," said Kumi Naidoo
of the pressure group Global Call to Action Against Poverty. "The
promise to deliver by 2010 is like waiting five years before
responding to the tsunami."
ActionAid fretted that less than half of the increase was actually
new money.
The G-8 also promised to strive for universal access to treatments
for deadly diseases like HIV/Aids and malaria.
U2 singer Bono commented: "600,000 Africans, mostly children, will
remember this G-8 summit at Gleneagles because they will be around
to remember this summit, and they wouldn't have otherwise."
The G-8 also earmarked $3 billion to help the Palestinian Authority
take control of Gaza when Israel withdraws later this summer.
Trade
Though unfair trade rules are often cited as the biggest barrier to
growth and sustainability for poor countries, the G-8 came up with
little new here, apart from promises to establish a "credible end
date" for a trade agreement to eliminate export subsidies.
"On trade they have come up with nothing," says Peter Hardstaff,
head of policy for the World Development Movement, an independent
international anti-poverty and trade justice movement.
"They have sent a message to the rest of the world that thy have no
intention of taking unilateral action to stop damaging trade
policies, and they'll make sure they get something in return from
poor countries. This is asking not what we can do for the poor but
what the poor can do for us."
Climate change
Stark differences between the US, which has not signed the Kyoto
protocol, and the other countries which have, were clear. There were
calls for more energy efficiency, increasing use of renewables, and
support for research and development into new energy technologies.
There was also a commitment to a new series of talks on climate
change that would bring big polluters America and China into the
fold, and Blair called for a conference on Nov. 1 to assess progress.
"The G-8 have failed to deliver a meaningful action plan that will
reduce greenhouse gas emissions," says Simon Retallack of the
Institute for Public Policy Research in London.
"Without targets and timetables that will lead to binding limits of
climate-change emissions, you will not achieve the large scale
deployment of low-carbon technology," he adds.
"There is nothing to drive the deployment of these new technologies.
There isn't a single dollar sign in those texts."
Summing up the meeting, Blair acknowledged that some would be
disappointed.
But he said that the nature of international negotiations was about
incremental steps, not quantum leaps. "It isn't all everyone wanted,
but it is progress."
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