34th G8 summit
Encyclopedia
The 34th G8 summit took place in on the northern island of Hokkaidō
, Japan
from July 7–9, 2008. The locations of previous summits to have been hosted by Japan include: Tokyo
(1979, 1986, 1993); and Nago, Okinawa
(2000). The G8 Summit has evolved beyond being a gathering of world political leaders. The event has become an occasion for a wide variety of non-governmental organizations, activists and civic groups to congregate and discuss a multitude of issues.
, Germany
, Italy
, Japan
, the United Kingdom
, the United States
and Canada
starting in 1976. The G8
, meeting for the first time in 1997, was formed with the addition of Russia
. In addition, the President of the European Commission
has been formally included in summits since 1981. The summits were not meant to be linked formally with wider international institutions; and in fact, a mild rebellion against the stiff formality of other international meetings was a part of the genesis of cooperation between France's President Giscard d'Estaing and West Germany's Chancellor Helmut Schmidt
as they conceived the initial summit
of the Group of Six (G6) in 1975.
In discussions regarding Africa
during the 34th G8 Summit, the G8 leaders set a five-year deadline to commit US$60 billion in funding to help fight disease in Africa and renewed a commitment made three years earlier to double aid for Africa to $25-billion by 2010 and to consider pledging further assistance after 2010. On the topic of global warming
, the G8 leaders agreed on the need for the world to cut carbon emissions blamed for global warming by at least 50 percent by 2050. Environmental activists and leaders from the developing countries described the statement as a "toothless gesture". Results of discussions on the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement
, which had earlier been leaked by Wikileaks
, were not known. The G8 leaders made statements regarding their relations with Zimbabwe
, Iran
and North Korea
. The responses of the G8 leaders to the "Challenge to the G8 Governments" of over 100 NGOs and other organisations and individuals requesting them to "cancel all illegitimate debt
", to "end the practice of using loans and debt cancellation to impose conditionalities" and to "facilitate the return of stolen assets kept in the banks in the G8 countries" are not presently known. Regarding the 2007–2008 world food price crisis
, the differences between the G8 leaders and the citizens' groups' approaches to solving the crisis appeared unresolved. The G8's communiqué said that it was "imperative" to remove export restrictions, in contrast to requests of the signers of the "Challenge to the G8 Governments".
The G8 summits during the twenty-first century have also involved widespread parallel debates and protests by citizens and claimed human rights
violations against some of them during massive police/military operations. Over 40 dissident
s were arrested before the summit started and nineteen or twenty Koreans critical of the G8 leadership were detained at New Chitose Airport
for at least 24 hours. During a "non-violent demonstration where no acts against property or people took place" according to a legal observer, at least four people were arrested, including a Reuters
cameraman. At this venue, amongst the reasons cited for demonstrations and protests were that a G8 summit is merely an arbitrary meeting of national leaders and that it is also a nexus which becomes more than the sum of its parts, elevating the participants, the event and the venue as focal points for activist pressure.
, Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda
and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev
. It was also the last for U.S. president George W. Bush
, whose term-limited office denies him an opportunity to return to future G8 summits. Fukuda resigned as Japan's Prime Minister on September 1, he being the first of the G8 leaders at the summit to leave office.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy
observed, "I think it is not reasonable to continue to meet as eight to solve the big questions of the world, forgetting China -- one billion 300 million people -- and not inviting India -- one billion people." Japan and the United States announced opposition to Sarkozy's implied suggestion.
The G8 plus the five largest emerging economies has come to be known as G8+5
. Brazil
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva
, President
. China
Hu Jintao
, President
. India
Manmohan Singh
, Prime Minister
. Mexico
Felipe Calderón
, President
. South Africa
Thabo Mbeki
, President
.
Abdelaziz Bouteflika
, President. Australia
Kevin Rudd
, Prime Minister. Ethiopia
Meles Zenawi
, Prime Minister. Ghana
John Agyekum Kufuor, President. Indonesia
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono
, President. Nigeria
Umaru Yar'Adua, President. Senegal
Abdoulaye Wade
, President. South Korea
Lee Myung-bak
, President. Tanzania
Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete, President.
, the global economy
and a host of political crises.
The G8 leaders were in a position to discuss the "full range of issues relating to African development". The need to address long-term planning for African development has been a G8 agenda item for a number of years. In 2008, Japan hosted both the G8 summit and the Fourth Tokyo International Conference on African Development
(TICAD-IV) -— a pentannual (recurring in five-year cycles) meeting for African leaders and their development partners. This meant that Japan had the opportunity to help Africa into the spotlight of international attention. Africa, which has been on the G8 agenda since 2000 when Japan last chaired the G8, has continued to lag behind on progress towards meeting Millennium Development Goals
(MDGs) while Asia has made considerable strides during the same period. Unanswered questions remain about why what has happened in Asia has not happened in Africa.
After discussions, the G8 leaders announced new measures on improving education, health, water supplies and sanitation and increasing the number of doctors and nurses in Africa. However, the Times
says that it will be by the presence, or absence, of a headline figure on overall African aid that their talks will be judged a success or failure. Fukuda and Brown are reported to be pressing for the fulfillment of pledges made at the 2005 Gleneagles summit, but Sarkozy and Berlusconi are seen to be for pulling back from those commitments.
The G8 leaders set a five-year deadline to commit $60-billion in funding to help Africa fight disease, including pledging 100 million mosquito nets by 2010 which will prevent thousands of deaths from malaria. They also renewed a commitment made three years ago to double aid for Africa to $25-billion by 2010 and to consider pledging further assistance after 2010.
A package of proposals has been developed for further discussion including "a new framework that will ensure participation by the United States and China, the world's largest greenhouse-gas emitters." The G8 conference is claimed by G8 organisers to be "an important platform to firm up commitments" based on the initial framework agreed upon at the December 2007 United Nations Climate Change Conference
held in Bali, Indonesia.
In the "Challenge to the G8 Governments" by over 100 NGOs and other organisations and individuals, critics of the G8 claimed that the G8 states are themselves responsible for the climate crisis. They called for the G8 governments to "stop financing projects and policies that contribute to climate change".
G8 leaders agreed on the need for the world to cut carbon emissions blamed for global warming by at least 50 percent by 2050 and for each nation to set its own target for near term goals. The communiqué represents a small step forward from last year's call to "consider seriously" such long-term cuts; but environmental activists and leaders from the developing countries were disappointed, describing the statement as a toothless gesture.
The impact of climate change on small Pacific Island nations
will also be an "unofficial theme" of the G8 summit, according to a report by the Asahi Evening News
. Japan had unveiled a plan called the Cool Earth Partnership
in June 2008 in order to help small Pacific states and other developing nations cope with the challenges of climate change. An official for the Japanese Ministry of the Environment
stated that it wanted to unveil the new aid package before the G8 Summit in order to further dialogue on the subject. Tavau Teii
, the Deputy Prime Minister of Tuvalu
, a recipient of Japan's aid package against rising sea levels, toured Japan in the run up to the G8 Summit to raise awareness on the impact of climate change on his small island country.
, the Office of the United States Trade Representative
, the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
, and others have published selected passages ostensibly from this document.
The requests to the G8 governments expressed in the "Challenge to the G8 Governments" by over 100 NGOs and other organisations and individuals regarding the world economy were to "cancel all illegitimate debt
", "end the practice of using loans and debt cancellation to impose conditionalities" and "facilitate the return of stolen assets kept in the banks in the G8 countries."
, over 100 NGOs and other organisations and individuals issued a "Challenge to the G8 Governments" which called for the G8 to "respect efforts to reverse the harmful policies that have led to the food crisis" and for the G8 to "ban speculation on food prices".
G8 leaders called on those nations with sufficient food stocks to release some of their reserves to help others cope with soaring prices; and the G8's mildly worded communiqué said it was "imperative" to remove export restrictions.
A tentative schedule for the G8 summit was arranged in advance; and contingencies affecting some surrounding events were anticipated the summit planners.
, Ethiopia
, Ghana
, Nigeria
, Senegal
, South Africa, Tanzania
and the chairman of the African Union Commission. Monday's agenda included the following:
, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia
, Mexico, South Africa and South Korea
. Wednesday's agenda encompassed the following:
60,000 UK citizens and 1,000,000 people worldwide had signed petitions calling on G8 leaders to resolve the food crisis, address climate change, deliver funds for water and sanitation, and provide aid for healthcare and education.
However, concrete plans from the G8 to deliver action on these vital concerns were not forthcoming.
According to World Vision
the $10 billion pledged since January will make a difference in the short term. Tearfund
see the appointment of a G8 Expert Group to monitor the implementation of food security commitments as a positive step, although the lack of measurable plans adopted means that it is unclear exactly what role this group will play.
Many NGOs report that the G8 did not address the structural causes of the food crisis. Instead of delivering trade justice
, G8 leaders pushed for even more trade liberalisation for developing countries. The G8 also remained silent on the role of food-price speculation in global markets in making the crisis worse. They also used only vague words on reducing bio-fuels and addressing climate change.
, ActionAid
, Christian Aid
, Oxfam
and Save the Children
all argue that this is not credible, because there is no agreed baseline year, no agreement on when emissions will peak and begin to decline and no mid-term target on emissions reductions.
$6 billion was pledged to a ‘Climate Investment Fund’. However Christian Aid
points out two problems with this. Firstly, the fund will be housed at the World Bank, which has a track record of imposing damaging economic policies on poor countries and is backing a large portfolio of greenhouse gas emitting projects around the world. Secondly, this is not new money - the money will come out of aid budgets, at a time when aid budgets are decreasing.
reports that hopes of a breakthrough in the global sanitation and water crisis at the G8 summit were dashed as the G8 delivered a communiqué largely devoid of concrete actions to help the 2.6 billion people lacking access to a safe toilet, and the 1.1 billion people lacking access to clean water. Instead of agreeing an action plan to tackle what a recent WaterAid
report claims kills more children than any other single factor, G8 leaders were content to report on progress at the 2009 summit and take steps to implement the discredited 2003 G8 Evian Water Action Plan.
welcomed that fact that G8 leaders committed to provide a projected $60 billion for health over the next 5 years. However, they point out that this falls far short of what is required to achieve the health-related MDGs and Universal Access by 2010. Based on current UNAIDS resource estimates, the G8 share of resources needed for HIV alone is US$65 billion for the next three years. Meanwhile previous commitments, such as universal access to paediatric treatment, as outlined at Heiligendamm in 2007, are conspicuous by their absence.
There are no timetables for delivery or measurable action plans attached to the communiqué. G8 leaders have agreed to establish a monitoring mechanism but the details remain unclear. Without funding, timetables and monitoring mechanisms, the G8 leaders’ stated concerns about global health will be empty gestures.
According to the Global Campaign for Education, there has been a pledge of $1 billion for education, yet this is less than 10% of what is needed to deliver what is every child’s human right.
s were arrested before the summit started and nineteen or twenty Koreans critical of the G8 leadership were detained at New Chitose Airport
for at least 24 hours. During a "non-violent demonstration where no acts against property or people took place" according to a legal observer, at least four people were arrested, including a Reuters
cameraman.
activist Bill Nighy
in Sapporo explained succinctly: "We want to achieve exactly what we wanted to achieve last time [at Heiligendamm
, Germany], which is to keep the G8 leaders and their governments to their promise. The promise that they would fulfil the Millennium Development Goals: primary school education for everyone; HIV medicines for all the people that are requiring it; maternal health; sustainable environment. We simply want them not to renege on those promises and to keep it up to schedule. At the moment, they are disastrously behind schedule. So we are looking to remind them of that."
Some protesting organizations in Sapporo during the G8 summit tried to leverage the spirit of the Japanese Tanabata
festival to focus attention on what they hope this summit will accomplish. In the evening of July 7, the G8 leaders were invited to create their own tanzaku, and the group was captured by the summit photographer in front of the bamboo on which their private wishes had been tied. The same theme was exploited by non-governmental organizations like Oxfam and CARE International
in setting up an online wish petition campaign to coincide with the G8 Summit and Tanabata.
The Iranian international news network, broadcasting in English on a round-the-clock basis, reported activists in the streets of Sapporo who were urging the G8 to pay more attention to food producers and rapidly escalating food prices.
with a very large police presence, a day labourer in Kamagasaki
was allegedly tortured by the police. In response, many day labourers and other local citizens carried out several days of street protests.
During the month before the 34th G8 Summit started, "over 40 people were arrested in pre-emptive sweeps of broad left and anarchist
groups".
Just preceding the summit, Via Campesina
complained about the detention for over 24 hours of 19 (or 20) Korean farmers at New Chitose Airport
and their likely deportation from Japan, stating that the farmers were travelling with an official invitation letter from Nouminren (Japanese Family Farmers' Movement) and a full programme of their planned activities as requested by the authorities. Via Campesina asserted the "right to meet, demonstrate and propose solutions to the problems facing humanity and the environment" and demanded that "all the farmers, workers and other activists detained at the Sapporo Airport be allowed to join the civil society activities parallel to the G8 Summit."
During a "non-violent demonstration where no acts against property or people took place, or even appeared likely to take place" according to Ko Watari, a legal observer, at least four people were arrested, including a Reuters
cameraman. The arrestees potentially face "years in prison" according to the "No! G8 Legal Team".
centres to provide independent media coverage of the expected protests. In a sense, this text is the work product of something like citizen journalism, creating this article as part of "the first rough draft of history."
The composition of the G8 summit is not an agenda item, but wanted to see the group expand to include China, Mexico, India, Brazil and other major economies like Australia, South Korea and Spain
.
The G8 summit is an international event which is observed and reported by news media, but the G8's continuing relevance after more than 30 years is somewhat unclear. More than one analyst suggests that a G-8 summit is not the place to flesh out the details of any difficult or controversial policy issue in the context of a three-day event. Rather, the meeting offers an opportunity to bring a range of complex and sometimes inter-related issues. The G8 summit brings leaders together "not so they can dream up quick fixes, but to talk and think about them together."
Analysts anticipate that this will not be a summit in which an ambitious new agenda is mapped out, but rather one which will be cautiously focused on trying to keep the lid on growing global discontent. In 1976, the first year Canada attended, the nations issued a 1,600-word statement that made seven commitments, none of which were ever fully delivered by the members. In 2007, the nations made 329 commitments, about a third of which are being turned into reality. This, defenders of the G8 say, is proof of the summits' continuing effectiveness: the G8 are generally doing a better job than ever before of delivering on pledges made at these annual summit meetings.
The projected evaluation of this G8 summit can be assessed or measured in a context which encompasses the most recent G8 summits. At the 2004 summit at Sea Island
in United States, the G8 leaders agreed to extend debt relief programs for poor countries, but fell short of demands for a total write-off of loans owed by African nations to multilateral lending agencies. The G8 leaders said they would extend the term of the Highly Indebted Poor Countries initiative, under which poor states can write off some of their debt. A summary of accomplishments from the three most recent G8 summits would include:
2005 summit. In Gleneagles
in Scotland
, the G8 leaders agreed to more than double aid to Africa by 2010; but aid agencies argued there was little new money in the pledge. They also pledged that G8 nations and other donors would increase total aid for all developing countries by about $50 billion a year by 2010. Assistance to Africa was put at the top of the 2005 summit by British Prime Minister Tony Blair; but those well-intentioned plans were thwarted because Blair was forced to return to London after terrorist bomb explosions disrupted London's public transportation. The discussion about African issues was not as fruitful as the regular G8 sessions and had a "fragmented" character. A credible analysis of the summit suggests that Gleneagles stands apart from the other G8 summits ....
2006 summit. In Saint Petersburg
in Russia, the G8 leaders agreed to a formal agenda of energy security, combating infectious diseases and promoting education—all topics held little controversy and required no financial commitment by G8 members. Assistance to Africa from the 2005 summit agenda re-appeared on the 2006 agenda; but no tangible actions ensued.
2007 summit. In Heiligendamm
in Germany, the G8 leaders agreed to consider a global goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and to negotiate a new global climate pact that would extend and broaden the Kyoto Protocols. For Africa, the G8 pledged $60 billion to fight AIDS
, malaria
and tuberculosis
; but the declaration set out no specific timetable, nor did it break down individual countries' contributions or spell out how much of the total funds had been previously promised.
(ICA
) was established at the 31st G8 summit
at Gleneagles, Scotland
in the United Kingdom
in 2005. Since that time, the ICA’s annual meeting is traditionally hosted by the country holding the Presidency of the G8. The 2008 meeting was held in Tokyo in March 2008.
Japan spent an unprecedented amount on hosting the G-8 Summit. Although a full accounting has not been announced, the estimated total budget was more than ¥60 billion:
The Times reports that the estimated cost of the Hokkaidō summit topped $285 million.
Hokkaido's small businesses which were located near the summit site discovered that most of their customers were policemen during the event; and the tourist trade was virtually dead." The Guardian reported one shop owner's terse point of view: "I just want to get this summit over and done with so we can get back to normal."
In contrast, a foreign ministry spokesman focused on the exposure Toyako [Lake Toya] received in the international media; and he argued that the short-term sacrifice would prove to be worthwhile in terms of long-term business opportunities.
Hokkaido
, formerly known as Ezo, Yezo, Yeso, or Yesso, is Japan's second largest island; it is also the largest and northernmost of Japan's 47 prefectural-level subdivisions. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaido from Honshu, although the two islands are connected by the underwater railway Seikan Tunnel...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
from July 7–9, 2008. The locations of previous summits to have been hosted by Japan include: Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
(1979, 1986, 1993); and Nago, Okinawa
Nago, Okinawa
is a city located in the northern part of Okinawa Island, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. As of 2008, the city has an estimated population of 60,598 and the density of 288 persons per km². The total area is 210.30 km². The city was founded on August 1, 1970, and hosted the G-8 Summit in 2000.-...
(2000). The G8 Summit has evolved beyond being a gathering of world political leaders. The event has become an occasion for a wide variety of non-governmental organizations, activists and civic groups to congregate and discuss a multitude of issues.
Overview
The Group of Seven (G7) was an unofficial forum which brought together the heads of the richest industrialized countries: FranceFrance
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
starting in 1976. The G8
G8
The Group of Eight is a forum, created by France in 1975, for the governments of seven major economies: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States. In 1997, the group added Russia, thus becoming the G8...
, meeting for the first time in 1997, was formed with the addition of Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
. In addition, the President of the European Commission
President of the European Commission
The President of the European Commission is the head of the European Commission ― the executive branch of the :European Union ― the most powerful officeholder in the EU. The President is responsible for allocating portfolios to members of the Commission and can reshuffle or dismiss them if needed...
has been formally included in summits since 1981. The summits were not meant to be linked formally with wider international institutions; and in fact, a mild rebellion against the stiff formality of other international meetings was a part of the genesis of cooperation between France's President Giscard d'Estaing and West Germany's Chancellor Helmut Schmidt
Helmut Schmidt
Helmut Heinrich Waldemar Schmidt is a German Social Democratic politician who served as Chancellor of West Germany from 1974 to 1982. Prior to becoming chancellor, he had served as Minister of Defence and Minister of Finance. He had also served briefly as Minister of Economics and as acting...
as they conceived the initial summit
1st G6 summit
The 1st G6 summit took place on November 15–17, 1975, in Rambouillet, France. The venue for the summit meetings was the Château de Rambouillet near Paris....
of the Group of Six (G6) in 1975.
In discussions regarding Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
during the 34th G8 Summit, the G8 leaders set a five-year deadline to commit US$60 billion in funding to help fight disease in Africa and renewed a commitment made three years earlier to double aid for Africa to $25-billion by 2010 and to consider pledging further assistance after 2010. On the topic of global warming
Global warming
Global warming refers to the rising average temperature of Earth's atmosphere and oceans and its projected continuation. In the last 100 years, Earth's average surface temperature increased by about with about two thirds of the increase occurring over just the last three decades...
, the G8 leaders agreed on the need for the world to cut carbon emissions blamed for global warming by at least 50 percent by 2050. Environmental activists and leaders from the developing countries described the statement as a "toothless gesture". Results of discussions on the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement
Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement
The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement is a proposed plurilateral agreement for the purpose of establishing international standards on intellectual property rights enforcement...
, which had earlier been leaked by Wikileaks
Wikileaks
WikiLeaks is an international self-described not-for-profit organisation that publishes submissions of private, secret, and classified media from anonymous news sources, news leaks, and whistleblowers. Its website, launched in 2006 under The Sunshine Press organisation, claimed a database of more...
, were not known. The G8 leaders made statements regarding their relations with Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the African continent, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia and a tip of Namibia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east. Zimbabwe has three...
, Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
and North Korea
North Korea
The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea , , is a country in East Asia, occupying the northern half of the Korean Peninsula. Its capital and largest city is Pyongyang. The Korean Demilitarized Zone serves as the buffer zone between North Korea and South Korea...
. The responses of the G8 leaders to the "Challenge to the G8 Governments" of over 100 NGOs and other organisations and individuals requesting them to "cancel all illegitimate debt
Odious debt
In international law, odious debt is a legal theory that holds that the national debt incurred by a regime for purposes that do not serve the best interests of the nation, should not be enforceable. Such debts are, thus, considered by this doctrine to be personal debts of the regime that incurred...
", to "end the practice of using loans and debt cancellation to impose conditionalities" and to "facilitate the return of stolen assets kept in the banks in the G8 countries" are not presently known. Regarding the 2007–2008 world food price crisis
2007–2008 world food price crisis
World food prices increased dramatically in 2007 and the 1st and 2nd quarter of 2008 creating a global crisis and causing political and economical instability and social unrest in both poor and developed nations. Systemic causes for the worldwide increases in food prices continue to be the subject...
, the differences between the G8 leaders and the citizens' groups' approaches to solving the crisis appeared unresolved. The G8's communiqué said that it was "imperative" to remove export restrictions, in contrast to requests of the signers of the "Challenge to the G8 Governments".
The G8 summits during the twenty-first century have also involved widespread parallel debates and protests by citizens and claimed human rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
violations against some of them during massive police/military operations. Over 40 dissident
Dissident
A dissident, broadly defined, is a person who actively challenges an established doctrine, policy, or institution. When dissidents unite for a common cause they often effect a dissident movement....
s were arrested before the summit started and nineteen or twenty Koreans critical of the G8 leadership were detained at New Chitose Airport
New Chitose Airport
, is an airport located south southeast of Chitose and Tomakomai, Hokkaidō, Japan, serving the Sapporo metropolitan area. By land area, it is the largest airport in Hokkaidō....
for at least 24 hours. During a "non-violent demonstration where no acts against property or people took place" according to a legal observer, at least four people were arrested, including a Reuters
Reuters
Reuters is a news agency headquartered in New York City. Until 2008 the Reuters news agency formed part of a British independent company, Reuters Group plc, which was also a provider of financial market data...
cameraman. At this venue, amongst the reasons cited for demonstrations and protests were that a G8 summit is merely an arbitrary meeting of national leaders and that it is also a nexus which becomes more than the sum of its parts, elevating the participants, the event and the venue as focal points for activist pressure.
Leaders
The G8 is an unofficial annual forum for the leaders of Canada, the European Commission, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States. The G8 summit was the first for British Prime Minister Gordon BrownGordon Brown
James Gordon Brown is a British Labour Party politician who was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 until 2010. He previously served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Labour Government from 1997 to 2007...
, Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda
Yasuo Fukuda
was the 91st Prime Minister of Japan, serving from 2007 to 2008. He was previously the longest-serving Chief Cabinet Secretary in Japanese history, serving for three and a half years under Prime Ministers Yoshirō Mori and Junichiro Koizumi....
and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev
Dmitry Medvedev
Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev is the third President of the Russian Federation.Born to a family of academics, Medvedev graduated from the Law Department of Leningrad State University in 1987. He defended his dissertation in 1990 and worked as a docent at his alma mater, now renamed to Saint...
. It was also the last for U.S. president George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
, whose term-limited office denies him an opportunity to return to future G8 summits. Fukuda resigned as Japan's Prime Minister on September 1, he being the first of the G8 leaders at the summit to leave office.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy
Nicolas Sarkozy
Nicolas Sarkozy is the 23rd and current President of the French Republic and ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra. He assumed the office on 16 May 2007 after defeating the Socialist Party candidate Ségolène Royal 10 days earlier....
observed, "I think it is not reasonable to continue to meet as eight to solve the big questions of the world, forgetting China -- one billion 300 million people -- and not inviting India -- one billion people." Japan and the United States announced opposition to Sarkozy's implied suggestion.
Core participants
These summit participants are the current "core members" of the international forum:| Core G8 members G8 The Group of Eight is a forum, created by France in 1975, for the governments of seven major economies: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States. In 1997, the group added Russia, thus becoming the G8... Host nation and leader are indicated in bold text. |
|||
| Member | Represented by | Title | |
|---|---|---|---|
 |
Canada Canada Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean... |
Stephen Harper Stephen Harper Stephen Joseph Harper is the 22nd and current Prime Minister of Canada and leader of the Conservative Party. Harper became prime minister when his party formed a minority government after the 2006 federal election... |
Prime Minister Prime Minister of Canada The Prime Minister of Canada is the primary minister of the Crown, chairman of the Cabinet, and thus head of government for Canada, charged with advising the Canadian monarch or viceroy on the exercise of the executive powers vested in them by the constitution... |
 |
France France The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France... |
Nicolas Sarkozy Nicolas Sarkozy Nicolas Sarkozy is the 23rd and current President of the French Republic and ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra. He assumed the office on 16 May 2007 after defeating the Socialist Party candidate Ségolène Royal 10 days earlier.... |
President |
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Germany Germany Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate... |
Angela Merkel Angela Merkel Angela Dorothea Merkel is the current Chancellor of Germany . Merkel, elected to the Bundestag from Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, has been the chairwoman of the Christian Democratic Union since 2000, and chairwoman of the CDU-CSU parliamentary coalition from 2002 to 2005.From 2005 to 2009 she led a... |
Chancellor |
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Italy Italy Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and... |
Silvio Berlusconi Silvio Berlusconi Silvio Berlusconi , also known as Il Cavaliere – from knighthood to the Order of Merit for Labour which he received in 1977 – is an Italian politician and businessman who served three terms as Prime Minister of Italy, from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006, and 2008 to 2011. Berlusconi is also the... |
Prime Minister Prime minister of Italy The Prime Minister of Italy is the head of government of the Italian Republic... |
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Japan Japan Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south... |
Yasuo Fukuda Yasuo Fukuda was the 91st Prime Minister of Japan, serving from 2007 to 2008. He was previously the longest-serving Chief Cabinet Secretary in Japanese history, serving for three and a half years under Prime Ministers Yoshirō Mori and Junichiro Koizumi.... |
Prime Minister Prime Minister of Japan The is the head of government of Japan. He is appointed by the Emperor of Japan after being designated by the Diet from among its members, and must enjoy the confidence of the House of Representatives to remain in office... |
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Russia Russia Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects... |
Dmitri Medvedev | President |
| United Kingdom United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages... |
Gordon Brown Gordon Brown James Gordon Brown is a British Labour Party politician who was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 until 2010. He previously served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Labour Government from 1997 to 2007... |
Prime Minister Prime Minister of the United Kingdom The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the Head of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Parliament, to their political party and... |
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United States United States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district... |
George W. Bush George W. Bush George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000.... |
President President of the United States The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces.... |
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European Commission European Commission The European Commission is the executive body of the European Union. The body is responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the Union's treaties and the general day-to-day running of the Union.... |
Jose Manuel Barroso | President President of the European Commission The President of the European Commission is the head of the European Commission ― the executive branch of the :European Union ― the most powerful officeholder in the EU. The President is responsible for allocating portfolios to members of the Commission and can reshuffle or dismiss them if needed... |
Invited leaders (partial participation)
A number of national leaders were invited to attend the summit and to participate in some, but not all, G8 summit activities.G8+5
G8+5
The G8+5 group of leaders consists of the heads of government from the G8 nations , plus the heads of government of the five leading emerging economies .-February 2007 Declaration:On February 16, 2007, The Global Legislators Organisation The G8+5 group of leaders consists of the heads of government...
. Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva , known popularly as Lula, served as the 35th President of Brazil from 2003 to 2010.A founding member of the Workers' Party , he ran for President three times unsuccessfully, first in the 1989 election. Lula achieved victory in the 2002 election, and was inaugurated as...
, President
President of Brazil
The president of Brazil is both the head of state and head of government of the Federative Republic of Brazil. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the Brazilian Armed Forces...
. China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
Hu Jintao
Hu Jintao
Hu Jintao is the current Paramount Leader of the People's Republic of China. He has held the titles of General Secretary of the Communist Party of China since 2002, President of the People's Republic of China since 2003, and Chairman of the Central Military Commission since 2004, succeeding Jiang...
, President
President of the People's Republic of China
The President of the People's Republic of China is a ceremonial office and a part of State organs under the National People's Congress and it is the head of state of the People's Republic of China . The office was created by the 1982 Constitution...
. India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
Manmohan Singh
Manmohan Singh
Manmohan Singh is the 13th and current Prime Minister of India. He is the only Prime Minister since Jawaharlal Nehru to return to power after completing a full five-year term. A Sikh, he is the first non-Hindu to occupy the office. Singh is also the 7th Prime Minister belonging to the Indian...
, Prime Minister
Prime Minister of India
The Prime Minister of India , as addressed to in the Constitution of India — Prime Minister for the Union, is the chief of government, head of the Council of Ministers and the leader of the majority party in parliament...
. Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
Felipe Calderón
Felipe Calderón
Felipe de Jesús Calderón Hinojosa is the current President of Mexico. He assumed office on December 1, 2006, and was elected for a single six-year term through 2012...
, President
President of Mexico
The President of the United Mexican States is the head of state and government of Mexico. Under the Constitution, the president is also the Supreme Commander of the Mexican armed forces...
. South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
Thabo Mbeki
Thabo Mbeki
Thabo Mvuyelwa Mbeki is a South African politician who served two terms as the second post-apartheid President of South Africa from 14 June 1999 to 24 September 2008. He is also the brother of Moeletsi Mbeki...
, President
President of South Africa
The President of the Republic of South Africa is the head of state and head of government under South Africa's Constitution. From 1961 to 1994, the head of state was called the State President....
.
Other leaders
AlgeriaAlgeria
Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...
Abdelaziz Bouteflika
Abdelaziz Bouteflika
Abdelaziz Bouteflika is the ninth President of Algeria. He has been in office since 1999. He continued emergency rule until 24 February 2011, and presided over the end of the bloody Algerian Civil War in 2002...
, President. Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
Kevin Rudd
Kevin Rudd
Kevin Michael Rudd is an Australian politician who was the 26th Prime Minister of Australia from 2007 to 2010. He has been Minister for Foreign Affairs since 2010...
, Prime Minister. Ethiopia
Ethiopia
Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...
Meles Zenawi
Meles Zenawi
Meles Zenawi Asres is the Prime Minister of Ethiopia. Since 1985, he has been chairman of the Tigrayan Peoples' Liberation Front , and is currently head of the ruling Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front .Meles was born in Adwa, Tigray in Northern Ethiopia, to an Ethiopian father from...
, Prime Minister. Ghana
Ghana
Ghana , officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country located in West Africa. It is bordered by Côte d'Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south...
John Agyekum Kufuor, President. Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono AC , is an Indonesian politician and retired Army general officer who has been President of Indonesia since 2004....
, President. Nigeria
Nigeria
Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...
Umaru Yar'Adua, President. Senegal
Senegal
Senegal , officially the Republic of Senegal , is a country in western Africa. It owes its name to the Sénégal River that borders it to the east and north...
Abdoulaye Wade
Abdoulaye Wade
Abdoulaye Wade is the third and current President of Senegal, in office since 2000. He is also the Secretary-General of the Senegalese Democratic Party and has led the party since it was founded in 1974...
, President. South Korea
South Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
Lee Myung-bak
Lee Myung-bak
Lee Myung-bak is the President of South Korea. Prior to his presidency, he was the CEO of Hyundai Engineering and Construction and the mayor of Seoul. He is married to Kim Yoon-ok and has three daughters and one son. His older brother is Lee Sang-deuk, a South Korean politician. He attends the...
, President. Tanzania
Tanzania
The United Republic of Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.Tanzania is a state...
Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete, President.
Heads of intergovernmental organizations
Leaders of major intergovernmental organizations had been invited to participate in the summit's outreach sessions.- African UnionAfrican UnionThe African Union is a union consisting of 54 African states. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established on 9 July 2002, the AU was formed as a successor to the Organisation of African Unity...
Jean PingJean PingJean Ping is a Gabonese diplomat and politician who is currently the Chairperson of the Commission of the African Union...
, AU Commission Chairman Jakaya KikweteJakaya KikweteJakaya Mrisho Kikwete is the 4th and current President of the United Republic of Tanzania. Kikwete was born in Msoga, Bagamoyo District, Tanganyika in present day Tanzania...
, AU ChairmanChairperson of the African UnionThe African Union Chairman is chosen by the Assembly, which consists of the heads of state of member countries, to serve a 1-year term.- List of Chairmen:...
. Commonwealth of Independent StatesCommonwealth of Independent StatesThe Commonwealth of Independent States is a regional organization whose participating countries are former Soviet Republics, formed during the breakup of the Soviet Union....
Sergei LebedevSergei LebedevGeneral of the Army Sergei Nikolaevich Lebedev is a Russian political figure who has been the Executive Secretary of the Commonwealth of Independent States since 2007. He was Director of Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service from 2000 to 2007....
, Executive Secretary - International Atomic Energy Agency
International Atomic Energy AgencyThe International Atomic Energy Agency is an international organization that seeks to promote the peaceful use of nuclear energy, and to inhibit its use for any military purpose, including nuclear weapons. The IAEA was established as an autonomous organization on 29 July 1957...
Mohamed ElBaradei, Director General - International Energy AgencyInternational Energy AgencyThe International Energy Agency is a Paris-based autonomous intergovernmental organization established in the framework of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development in 1974 in the wake of the 1973 oil crisis...
Nobuo TanakaNobuo Tanakais the Japanese official and the former Executive Director of the International Energy Agency. He was born on 3 March 1950 in Japan. He is graduated from the University of Tokyo in the field of economics in 1972, and has an MBA from Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio . In 1973 he...
, Executive Director United NationsUnited NationsThe United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
Ban Ki-moonBan Ki-moonBan Ki-moon is the eighth and current Secretary-General of the United Nations, after succeeding Kofi Annan in 2007. Before going on to be Secretary-General, Ban was a career diplomat in South Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and in the United Nations. He entered diplomatic service the year he...
, Secretary-General. - UNESCO
UNESCOThe United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
Koichiro MatsuuraKoichiro Matsuurais a Japanese diplomat. He is the former Director-General of UNESCO. He was first elected in 1999 to a six-year term and reelected on 12 October 2005 for four years, following a reform instituted by the 29th session of the General Conference...
, Director General - World BankWorld BankThe World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to developing countries for capital programmes.The World Bank's official goal is the reduction of poverty...
Robert ZoellickRobert ZoellickRobert Bruce Zoellick is the eleventh president of the World Bank, a position he has held since July 1, 2007. He was previously a managing director of Goldman Sachs, United States Deputy Secretary of State and U.S. Trade Representative, from February 7, 2001 until February 22, 2005.President...
, President. - World Health Organization
World Health OrganizationThe World Health Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations that acts as a coordinating authority on international public health. Established on 7 April 1948, with headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, the agency inherited the mandate and resources of its predecessor, the Health...
Margaret ChanMargaret ChanMargaret Chan Fung Fu-chun, OBE JP is the Director-General of the World Health Organization . Chan was elected by the Executive Board of the WHO on 8 November 2006, and was endorsed in a special meeting of the World Health Assembly on the following day...
, Director-General - World Trade OrganizationWorld Trade OrganizationThe World Trade Organization is an organization that intends to supervise and liberalize international trade. The organization officially commenced on January 1, 1995 under the Marrakech Agreement, replacing the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade , which commenced in 1948...
Pascal LamyPascal LamyPascal Lamy is the Director-General of the World Trade Organization, a French political advisor, a businessman, and a former European Commissioner for Trade...
, Director-General
Priorities
Traditionally, the host country of the G8 summit sets the agenda for negotiations, which take place primarily amongst multi-national civil servants in the weeks before the summit itself, leading to a joint declaration which all countries can agree to sign. This year, leaders of the G8 hoped to find common ground on climate changeClimate change
Climate change is a significant and lasting change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns over periods ranging from decades to millions of years. It may be a change in average weather conditions or the distribution of events around that average...
, the global economy
World economy
The world economy, or global economy, generally refers to the economy, which is based on economies of all of the world's countries, national economies. Also global economy can be seen as the economy of global society and national economies – as economies of local societies, making the global one....
and a host of political crises.
Issues
The summit was intended as a venue for resolving differences among its members. As a practical matter, the summit was also conceived as an opportunity for its members to give each other mutual encouragement in the face of difficult economic decisions.Africa
Tokyo International Conference on African Development
is a conference held every five years in Tokyo, Japan, with the objective "to promote high-level policy dialogue between African leaders and development partners." Japan is a co-host of these conferences. Other co-organizers of TICAD are the United Nations Office of the Special Advisor on Africa...
(TICAD-IV) -— a pentannual (recurring in five-year cycles) meeting for African leaders and their development partners. This meant that Japan had the opportunity to help Africa into the spotlight of international attention. Africa, which has been on the G8 agenda since 2000 when Japan last chaired the G8, has continued to lag behind on progress towards meeting Millennium Development Goals
Millennium Development Goals
The Millennium Development Goals are eight international development goals that all 193 United Nations member states and at least 23 international organizations have agreed to achieve by the year 2015...
(MDGs) while Asia has made considerable strides during the same period. Unanswered questions remain about why what has happened in Asia has not happened in Africa.
After discussions, the G8 leaders announced new measures on improving education, health, water supplies and sanitation and increasing the number of doctors and nurses in Africa. However, the Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
says that it will be by the presence, or absence, of a headline figure on overall African aid that their talks will be judged a success or failure. Fukuda and Brown are reported to be pressing for the fulfillment of pledges made at the 2005 Gleneagles summit, but Sarkozy and Berlusconi are seen to be for pulling back from those commitments.
The G8 leaders set a five-year deadline to commit $60-billion in funding to help Africa fight disease, including pledging 100 million mosquito nets by 2010 which will prevent thousands of deaths from malaria. They also renewed a commitment made three years ago to double aid for Africa to $25-billion by 2010 and to consider pledging further assistance after 2010.
Climate change
The G8 leaders claimed that they would discuss the "full range of issues relating to climate".A package of proposals has been developed for further discussion including "a new framework that will ensure participation by the United States and China, the world's largest greenhouse-gas emitters." The G8 conference is claimed by G8 organisers to be "an important platform to firm up commitments" based on the initial framework agreed upon at the December 2007 United Nations Climate Change Conference
2007 United Nations Climate Change Conference
The 2007 United Nations Climate Change Conference took place at the Bali International Conference Centre, Nusa Dua, in Bali, Indonesia, between December 3 and December 15, 2007 . Representatives from over 180 countries attended, together with observers from intergovernmental and nongovernmental...
held in Bali, Indonesia.
In the "Challenge to the G8 Governments" by over 100 NGOs and other organisations and individuals, critics of the G8 claimed that the G8 states are themselves responsible for the climate crisis. They called for the G8 governments to "stop financing projects and policies that contribute to climate change".
G8 leaders agreed on the need for the world to cut carbon emissions blamed for global warming by at least 50 percent by 2050 and for each nation to set its own target for near term goals. The communiqué represents a small step forward from last year's call to "consider seriously" such long-term cuts; but environmental activists and leaders from the developing countries were disappointed, describing the statement as a toothless gesture.
The impact of climate change on small Pacific Island nations
Pacific Islands
The Pacific Islands comprise 20,000 to 30,000 islands in the Pacific Ocean. The islands are also sometimes collectively called Oceania, although Oceania is sometimes defined as also including Australasia and the Malay Archipelago....
will also be an "unofficial theme" of the G8 summit, according to a report by the Asahi Evening News
TV Asahi
, also known as EX and , is a Japanese television network headquartered in Roppongi, Minato, Tokyo, Japan. The company writes its name in lower-case letters, tv asahi, in its logo and public-image materials. The company also owns All-Nippon News Network....
. Japan had unveiled a plan called the Cool Earth Partnership
Cool Earth 50
Cool Earth 50 is a Japanese plan to reduce global CO2 emissions 50% by 2050, which was discussed at the 34th G8 summit.There is also a Cool Earth Partnership in which Japan will financially assist developing countries to reduce emissions.-See also:...
in June 2008 in order to help small Pacific states and other developing nations cope with the challenges of climate change. An official for the Japanese Ministry of the Environment
Ministry of the Environment (Japan)
The ' of Japan was formed in 2001 from the sub-cabinet level Environmental Agency established in 1971. The minister is a member of the Cabinet and is chosen by the Prime Minister, usually from the Diet., the current is Goshi Hosono...
stated that it wanted to unveil the new aid package before the G8 Summit in order to further dialogue on the subject. Tavau Teii
Tavau Teii
-Background:Teii is from Niutao and he stood for the Parliament of Tuvalu in, and was elected from, the constituency of Niutao.-Deputy Prime Minister of Tuvalu:He was Deputy Prime Minister of Tuvalu in the Government of Apisai Ielemia...
, the Deputy Prime Minister of Tuvalu
Tuvalu
Tuvalu , formerly known as the Ellice Islands, is a Polynesian island nation located in the Pacific Ocean, midway between Hawaii and Australia. Its nearest neighbours are Kiribati, Nauru, Samoa and Fiji. It comprises four reef islands and five true atolls...
, a recipient of Japan's aid package against rising sea levels, toured Japan in the run up to the G8 Summit to raise awareness on the impact of climate change on his small island country.
Intellectual property rights
A leaked document details provisions of a proposed plurilateral trade agreement that would impose strict enforcement of intellectual property rights related to Internet activity and trade in information-based goods. If adopted, a treaty of this form would impose a strong, top-down enforcement regime imposing new cooperation requirements upon ISPs, including perfunctory disclosure of customer information, as well as measures restricting the use of online privacy tools. The proposal also specifies a plan to encourage developing nations to accept the legal regime. Talking points from the European CommissionEuropean Commission
The European Commission is the executive body of the European Union. The body is responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the Union's treaties and the general day-to-day running of the Union....
, the Office of the United States Trade Representative
Office of the United States Trade Representative
The Office of the United States Trade Representative is the United States government agency responsible for developing and recommending United States trade policy to the president of the United States, conducting trade negotiations at bilateral and multilateral levels, and coordinating trade...
, the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Australia)
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is a department of the government of Australia charged with advancing the interests of Australia and its citizens internationally...
, and others have published selected passages ostensibly from this document.
Political issues
Amongst the important issues which were open for discussion included terrorism and nuclear non-proliferation.- ZimbabweZimbabweZimbabwe is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the African continent, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia and a tip of Namibia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east. Zimbabwe has three...
: The G8 communiqué expressed "grave concern" about the violence-marred election process which superficially confirmed Robert Mugabe's continuing hold on the presidency. They warned of further action including targeted sanctions against those in Mugabe's government who were behind the violence. The leaders jointly recommended the appointment of a UN special envoy. Gordon Brown pressed for a statement which would have labeled Mugabe an illegitimate president, and George Bush described last month's violent presidential election as a "sham". However, there was no unanimity amongst the G8; and Russia quietly signaled opposition to imposing further sanctions against Mugabe's regime. - IranIranIran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
: The G8 communiqué urged the Iranian government to end its uranium enrichment program in line with UN Security Council resolutions; and they formally called on Tehran to respond positively to international mediation. - North KoreaNorth KoreaThe Democratic People’s Republic of Korea , , is a country in East Asia, occupying the northern half of the Korean Peninsula. Its capital and largest city is Pyongyang. The Korean Demilitarized Zone serves as the buffer zone between North Korea and South Korea...
: The G8 communiqué encouraged North Korea to abandon nuclear weapons and to cooperate in the verification of its dossier of nuclear programmes. In support for a key concern of the Japanese government, the G8 leaders also urged progress in resolving unanswered questions about North Korea's abductions of Japanese civilians in the 1970s and 1980s.
World economy
The Summit Website highlights several key issues surrounding the world economy to be discussed, including: sustained growth of the world economy, investment, trade, protection of intellectual property rights, emerging economies and natural resources.The requests to the G8 governments expressed in the "Challenge to the G8 Governments" by over 100 NGOs and other organisations and individuals regarding the world economy were to "cancel all illegitimate debt
Odious debt
In international law, odious debt is a legal theory that holds that the national debt incurred by a regime for purposes that do not serve the best interests of the nation, should not be enforceable. Such debts are, thus, considered by this doctrine to be personal debts of the regime that incurred...
", "end the practice of using loans and debt cancellation to impose conditionalities" and "facilitate the return of stolen assets kept in the banks in the G8 countries."
Food crisis
Regarding the 2007–2008 world food price crisis2007–2008 world food price crisis
World food prices increased dramatically in 2007 and the 1st and 2nd quarter of 2008 creating a global crisis and causing political and economical instability and social unrest in both poor and developed nations. Systemic causes for the worldwide increases in food prices continue to be the subject...
, over 100 NGOs and other organisations and individuals issued a "Challenge to the G8 Governments" which called for the G8 to "respect efforts to reverse the harmful policies that have led to the food crisis" and for the G8 to "ban speculation on food prices".
G8 leaders called on those nations with sufficient food stocks to release some of their reserves to help others cope with soaring prices; and the G8's mildly worded communiqué said it was "imperative" to remove export restrictions.
Schedule and agenda
July 5
Saturday's agenda included the following:- Peace Walk by activists, including anti-G8 protesters in Sapporo, Hokkaido.
July 6
Sunday's agenda included the following:- Non-government organizations hold "People's Summit" in Sapporo, Hokkaido (to July 8).
- Bush-Fukuda bilateral meeting, US-Japan summit.
- Harper-Fukuda bilateral meeting, Canada-Japan summit.
- U.S.-Japan leaders dinner.
July 7
The first official day of meetings in Tōyako focused on African development issues. The exchange of views were aired in a number of bilateral meetings and in an expanded afternoon session which brought together the G8 leaders and leaders of seven African countries -- AlgeriaAlgeria
Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...
, Ethiopia
Ethiopia
Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...
, Ghana
Ghana
Ghana , officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country located in West Africa. It is bordered by Côte d'Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south...
, Nigeria
Nigeria
Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...
, Senegal
Senegal
Senegal , officially the Republic of Senegal , is a country in western Africa. It owes its name to the Sénégal River that borders it to the east and north...
, South Africa, Tanzania
Tanzania
The United Republic of Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.Tanzania is a state...
and the chairman of the African Union Commission. Monday's agenda included the following:
- Merkel-Fukuda bilateral meeting.
- Medvedev-Brown bilateral meeting.
- Medvedev-Merkel bilateral meeting.
- Medvedev-Sarkozy bilateral meeting.
- Medvedev-Bush bilateral meeting.
- Outreach Working Lunch: G8 leaders + 8 African leaders.
- Outreach Working Session: G8 leaders + 8 African leaders.
- Mbeki-Bush bilateral meeting.
- Mbeki-Fukuda bilateral meeting, South Africa–Japan summit.
- Bouteflika-Sarkozy bilateral meeting.
- Bouteflika-Fukuda bilateral meeting.
- Yar'Adua-Fukuda bilateral meeting, Nigeria-Japan summit.
- Brown-Fukuda bilateral meeting.
- G8 Social Event (TanabataTanabatais a Japanese star festival, originating from the Chinese Qixi Festival. It celebrates the meeting of the deities Orihime and Hikoboshi . According to legend, the Milky Way separates these lovers, and they are allowed to meet only once a year on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month of the...
-related event) - G8 Social Dinner.
July 8
The second day of meetings in Tōyako focused on the food crisis, oil prices, and climate change. Tuesday's agenda included the following:- Merkel-Bush bilateral meeting.
- G8 Morning Working Session.
- G8 Working Lunch.
- G8 Afternoon Working Session.
- Meeting of the "+5" countries (G8+5) in Sapporo ahead of Wednesday' morning session (Brazil, China, India, Mexico, and South Africa)
- Medvedev-Fukuda bilateral meeting.
- Berlusconi-Fukuda bilateral meeting.
- G8 Working Dinner.
- Hu-Lula bilateral meeting
- Hu-Mbeki bilateral meeting
- Hu-Singh bilateral meeting
July 9
The third day of the summit was devoted to crafting summary statements to describe some of the substantive issues which were discussed by the leaders. Wednesday's schedule included two morning sessions. An outreach meeting in the early morning brought together G8 leaders and the leaders of Brazil, China, India, Mexico, South Africa. There was a separate meeting for G8 leaders and leaders of "major economies" -- AustraliaAustralia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
, Mexico, South Africa and South Korea
South Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
. Wednesday's agenda encompassed the following:
- Singh-Bush bilateral meeting.
- Outreach Working Session.
- Major Economies Meeting.
- G8 Working Lunch with participants from Major Economies Meeting.
- Hu-Bush bilateral meeting.
- Hu-Medvedev bilateral meeting
- Hu-Harper bilateral meeting
- Hu-Sarkozy bilateral meeting
- Press Conference.
- Lee-Bush bilateral meeting.
- Hu-Fukuda bilateral meeting.
- Singh-Fukuda bilateral meeting.
- Calderon-Fukuda bilateral meeting.
- Lula da Silva-Fukuda bilateral meeting.
- Rudd-Fukuda bilateral meeting.
- Yudhoyono-Fukuda bilateral meeting.
- Singh-Medvedev bilateral meeting.
- Singh-Rudd bilateral meeting.
NGO response
International development NGOs and networks reacted with a mixture of disappointment and frustration to the final communiqué of the July 2008 G8 summit in Hokkaido, Japan.60,000 UK citizens and 1,000,000 people worldwide had signed petitions calling on G8 leaders to resolve the food crisis, address climate change, deliver funds for water and sanitation, and provide aid for healthcare and education.
However, concrete plans from the G8 to deliver action on these vital concerns were not forthcoming.
Food crisis
The G8 registered their deep concern about the current global food crisis, but did not announce tangible or measurable initiatives for tackling it.According to World Vision
World Vision
World Vision, founded in the USA in 1950, is an evangelical relief and development organization whose stated goal is "to follow our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ in working with the poor and oppressed to promote human transformation, seek justice and bear witness to the good news of the Kingdom of...
the $10 billion pledged since January will make a difference in the short term. Tearfund
Tearfund
Tearfund is a UK Christian relief and development agency which works in over 50 countries. It is a founding member of both the Micah Network and the Disasters Emergency Committee.-History:...
see the appointment of a G8 Expert Group to monitor the implementation of food security commitments as a positive step, although the lack of measurable plans adopted means that it is unclear exactly what role this group will play.
Many NGOs report that the G8 did not address the structural causes of the food crisis. Instead of delivering trade justice
Trade justice
Trade justice is a campaign by non-governmental organisations lobbying for changes to the rules and practices of world trade so that poor people and the environment benefit...
, G8 leaders pushed for even more trade liberalisation for developing countries. The G8 also remained silent on the role of food-price speculation in global markets in making the crisis worse. They also used only vague words on reducing bio-fuels and addressing climate change.
Climate change
The G8 pledged to cut CO2 emissions by half by 2050. However NGOs including CAFODCAFOD
The Catholic Agency For Overseas Development, previously known as the Catholic Fund for Overseas Development, is a United Kingdom-based international aid agency working to alleviate poverty and suffering in developing. It is funded by the Catholic community in England and Wales, the UK government...
, ActionAid
ActionAid
ActionAid was founded in 1972 as a child sponsorship charity when 88 UK supporters sponsored 88 children in India and Kenya, the focus primarily being to provide children with an education. Global accounts are now reported in Euros and in 2007 and 2008 turnover was close to 180m Euros...
, Christian Aid
Christian Aid
Christian Aid is the official relief and development agency of 40 British and Irish churches and works to support sustainable development, alleviate poverty, support civil society and provide disaster relief in South America, the Caribbean, the Middle East, Africa and Asia...
, Oxfam
Oxfam
Oxfam is an international confederation of 15 organizations working in 98 countries worldwide to find lasting solutions to poverty and related injustice around the world. In all Oxfam’s actions, the ultimate goal is to enable people to exercise their rights and manage their own lives...
and Save the Children
Save the Children
Save the Children is an internationally active non-governmental organization that enforces children's rights, provides relief and helps support children in developing countries...
all argue that this is not credible, because there is no agreed baseline year, no agreement on when emissions will peak and begin to decline and no mid-term target on emissions reductions.
$6 billion was pledged to a ‘Climate Investment Fund’. However Christian Aid
Christian Aid
Christian Aid is the official relief and development agency of 40 British and Irish churches and works to support sustainable development, alleviate poverty, support civil society and provide disaster relief in South America, the Caribbean, the Middle East, Africa and Asia...
points out two problems with this. Firstly, the fund will be housed at the World Bank, which has a track record of imposing damaging economic policies on poor countries and is backing a large portfolio of greenhouse gas emitting projects around the world. Secondly, this is not new money - the money will come out of aid budgets, at a time when aid budgets are decreasing.
Water and sanitation
The international alliance End Water PovertyEnd Water Poverty
End Water Poverty is an international campaign calling for sanitation and potable water for all. UN figures show that worldwide, 2.6 billion people live without anywhere to excrete in a sanitary manner and over one billion have no safe water to drink...
reports that hopes of a breakthrough in the global sanitation and water crisis at the G8 summit were dashed as the G8 delivered a communiqué largely devoid of concrete actions to help the 2.6 billion people lacking access to a safe toilet, and the 1.1 billion people lacking access to clean water. Instead of agreeing an action plan to tackle what a recent WaterAid
WaterAid
WaterAid is an international non-profit organisation set up as a response to the UN International Drinking Water & Sanitation decade . WaterAid is dedicated to helping people escape the poverty and disease caused by living without safe water and sanitation. It is based in London, England and was...
report claims kills more children than any other single factor, G8 leaders were content to report on progress at the 2009 summit and take steps to implement the discredited 2003 G8 Evian Water Action Plan.
Aid for healthcare and education
TearfundTearfund
Tearfund is a UK Christian relief and development agency which works in over 50 countries. It is a founding member of both the Micah Network and the Disasters Emergency Committee.-History:...
welcomed that fact that G8 leaders committed to provide a projected $60 billion for health over the next 5 years. However, they point out that this falls far short of what is required to achieve the health-related MDGs and Universal Access by 2010. Based on current UNAIDS resource estimates, the G8 share of resources needed for HIV alone is US$65 billion for the next three years. Meanwhile previous commitments, such as universal access to paediatric treatment, as outlined at Heiligendamm in 2007, are conspicuous by their absence.
There are no timetables for delivery or measurable action plans attached to the communiqué. G8 leaders have agreed to establish a monitoring mechanism but the details remain unclear. Without funding, timetables and monitoring mechanisms, the G8 leaders’ stated concerns about global health will be empty gestures.
According to the Global Campaign for Education, there has been a pledge of $1 billion for education, yet this is less than 10% of what is needed to deliver what is every child’s human right.
Citizens' responses and authorities' counter-responses
Over 40 dissidentDissident
A dissident, broadly defined, is a person who actively challenges an established doctrine, policy, or institution. When dissidents unite for a common cause they often effect a dissident movement....
s were arrested before the summit started and nineteen or twenty Koreans critical of the G8 leadership were detained at New Chitose Airport
New Chitose Airport
, is an airport located south southeast of Chitose and Tomakomai, Hokkaidō, Japan, serving the Sapporo metropolitan area. By land area, it is the largest airport in Hokkaidō....
for at least 24 hours. During a "non-violent demonstration where no acts against property or people took place" according to a legal observer, at least four people were arrested, including a Reuters
Reuters
Reuters is a news agency headquartered in New York City. Until 2008 the Reuters news agency formed part of a British independent company, Reuters Group plc, which was also a provider of financial market data...
cameraman.
Protesters and demonstrations
Not all demonstrations were agitating in opposition to some issue. At the 2005 Scotland summit, for the first time the tens of thousands of people protesting outside were actually supporting the summit's agenda of African aid; and some activists travelled to Hokkaido for the same purpose. Veteran British actor and OxfamOxfam
Oxfam is an international confederation of 15 organizations working in 98 countries worldwide to find lasting solutions to poverty and related injustice around the world. In all Oxfam’s actions, the ultimate goal is to enable people to exercise their rights and manage their own lives...
activist Bill Nighy
Bill Nighy
William Francis "Bill" Nighy is an English actor and comedian. He worked in theatre and television before his first cinema role in 1981, and made his name in television with The Men's Room in 1991, in which he played the womanizer Prof...
in Sapporo explained succinctly: "We want to achieve exactly what we wanted to achieve last time [at Heiligendamm
33rd G8 summit
The 33rd G8 summit took place at Kempinski Grand Hotel in Heiligendamm in the old Duchy of Mecklenburg in the Northern German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern on the Baltic Coast. The group of eight leaders met together from 6 June to 8 June 2007...
, Germany], which is to keep the G8 leaders and their governments to their promise. The promise that they would fulfil the Millennium Development Goals: primary school education for everyone; HIV medicines for all the people that are requiring it; maternal health; sustainable environment. We simply want them not to renege on those promises and to keep it up to schedule. At the moment, they are disastrously behind schedule. So we are looking to remind them of that."
Some protesting organizations in Sapporo during the G8 summit tried to leverage the spirit of the Japanese Tanabata
Tanabata
is a Japanese star festival, originating from the Chinese Qixi Festival. It celebrates the meeting of the deities Orihime and Hikoboshi . According to legend, the Milky Way separates these lovers, and they are allowed to meet only once a year on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month of the...
festival to focus attention on what they hope this summit will accomplish. In the evening of July 7, the G8 leaders were invited to create their own tanzaku, and the group was captured by the summit photographer in front of the bamboo on which their private wishes had been tied. The same theme was exploited by non-governmental organizations like Oxfam and CARE International
CARE (relief)
CARE is a broad-spectrum secular relief, humanitarian, and development non-governmental organization fighting global poverty. It is non-political, non-sectarian and operates annually in more than 70 countries across the globe.One of the organization’s primary focuses in its fight to eradicate...
in setting up an online wish petition campaign to coincide with the G8 Summit and Tanabata.
The Iranian international news network, broadcasting in English on a round-the-clock basis, reported activists in the streets of Sapporo who were urging the G8 to pay more attention to food producers and rapidly escalating food prices.
Human rights violations and border controls
One day before the G8 Finance Ministers' Meeting started in OsakaOsaka
is a city in the Kansai region of Japan's main island of Honshu, a designated city under the Local Autonomy Law, the capital city of Osaka Prefecture and also the biggest part of Keihanshin area, which is represented by three major cities of Japan, Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe...
with a very large police presence, a day labourer in Kamagasaki
Kamagasaki
is an old place name for a part of Nishinari-ku in Osaka, Japan. became the area's official name in May 1966.-Geography:Sections of four different towns — , , , and — are collectively known as Kamagasaki.- Transport :*West Japan Railway Company...
was allegedly tortured by the police. In response, many day labourers and other local citizens carried out several days of street protests.
During the month before the 34th G8 Summit started, "over 40 people were arrested in pre-emptive sweeps of broad left and anarchist
Anarchism
Anarchism is generally defined as the political philosophy which holds the state to be undesirable, unnecessary, and harmful, or alternatively as opposing authority in the conduct of human relations...
groups".
Just preceding the summit, Via Campesina
Via Campesina
Via Campesina describes itself as "an international movement which coordinates peasant organizations of small and middle-scale producers, agricultural workers, rural women, and indigenous communities from Asia, Africa, America, and Europe"...
complained about the detention for over 24 hours of 19 (or 20) Korean farmers at New Chitose Airport
New Chitose Airport
, is an airport located south southeast of Chitose and Tomakomai, Hokkaidō, Japan, serving the Sapporo metropolitan area. By land area, it is the largest airport in Hokkaidō....
and their likely deportation from Japan, stating that the farmers were travelling with an official invitation letter from Nouminren (Japanese Family Farmers' Movement) and a full programme of their planned activities as requested by the authorities. Via Campesina asserted the "right to meet, demonstrate and propose solutions to the problems facing humanity and the environment" and demanded that "all the farmers, workers and other activists detained at the Sapporo Airport be allowed to join the civil society activities parallel to the G8 Summit."
During a "non-violent demonstration where no acts against property or people took place, or even appeared likely to take place" according to Ko Watari, a legal observer, at least four people were arrested, including a Reuters
Reuters
Reuters is a news agency headquartered in New York City. Until 2008 the Reuters news agency formed part of a British independent company, Reuters Group plc, which was also a provider of financial market data...
cameraman. The arrestees potentially face "years in prison" according to the "No! G8 Legal Team".
Citizen journalism
Citizens' groups organized several citizen journalismCitizen journalism
Citizen journalism is the concept of members of the public "playing an active role in the process of collecting, reporting, analyzing and disseminating news and information," according to the seminal 2003 report We Media: How Audiences are Shaping the Future of News and Information...
centres to provide independent media coverage of the expected protests. In a sense, this text is the work product of something like citizen journalism, creating this article as part of "the first rough draft of history."
Accomplishments
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
.
The G8 summit is an international event which is observed and reported by news media, but the G8's continuing relevance after more than 30 years is somewhat unclear. More than one analyst suggests that a G-8 summit is not the place to flesh out the details of any difficult or controversial policy issue in the context of a three-day event. Rather, the meeting offers an opportunity to bring a range of complex and sometimes inter-related issues. The G8 summit brings leaders together "not so they can dream up quick fixes, but to talk and think about them together."
Analysts anticipate that this will not be a summit in which an ambitious new agenda is mapped out, but rather one which will be cautiously focused on trying to keep the lid on growing global discontent. In 1976, the first year Canada attended, the nations issued a 1,600-word statement that made seven commitments, none of which were ever fully delivered by the members. In 2007, the nations made 329 commitments, about a third of which are being turned into reality. This, defenders of the G8 say, is proof of the summits' continuing effectiveness: the G8 are generally doing a better job than ever before of delivering on pledges made at these annual summit meetings.
The projected evaluation of this G8 summit can be assessed or measured in a context which encompasses the most recent G8 summits. At the 2004 summit at Sea Island
30th G8 summit
The 30th G8 summit took place in Sea Island, Georgia, United States, on June 8 – June 10, 2004.-Overview:The Group of Seven was an unofficial forum which brought together the heads of the richest industrialized countries: France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States and...
in United States, the G8 leaders agreed to extend debt relief programs for poor countries, but fell short of demands for a total write-off of loans owed by African nations to multilateral lending agencies. The G8 leaders said they would extend the term of the Highly Indebted Poor Countries initiative, under which poor states can write off some of their debt. A summary of accomplishments from the three most recent G8 summits would include:
2005 summit. In Gleneagles
31st G8 summit
The 31st G8 summit was held from July 6 to July 8, 2005 at the Gleneagles Hotel in Auchterarder, Scotland, United Kingdom and hosted by British Prime Minister Tony Blair...
in Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, the G8 leaders agreed to more than double aid to Africa by 2010; but aid agencies argued there was little new money in the pledge. They also pledged that G8 nations and other donors would increase total aid for all developing countries by about $50 billion a year by 2010. Assistance to Africa was put at the top of the 2005 summit by British Prime Minister Tony Blair; but those well-intentioned plans were thwarted because Blair was forced to return to London after terrorist bomb explosions disrupted London's public transportation. The discussion about African issues was not as fruitful as the regular G8 sessions and had a "fragmented" character. A credible analysis of the summit suggests that Gleneagles stands apart from the other G8 summits ....
- It would have been a regular summit if not for the terrorist attacks on London, as odd as it may seem at first sight. Although the tragedy took away a considerable portion of attention that would have otherwise been directed to the world richest and most powerful countries ..., the attacks provided for the relative success of the summit ... due to the necessity to demonstrate the united front against terrorism and to achieve somewhat tangible results that terrorists could not prevent.
2006 summit. In Saint Petersburg
32nd G8 summit
The 32nd summit of the G8 group of industrialised nations took place from 15 July to 17 July 2006 in Saint Petersburg, Russia. The venue was the Constantine Palace, which is located in Strelna on the Gulf of Finland...
in Russia, the G8 leaders agreed to a formal agenda of energy security, combating infectious diseases and promoting education—all topics held little controversy and required no financial commitment by G8 members. Assistance to Africa from the 2005 summit agenda re-appeared on the 2006 agenda; but no tangible actions ensued.
2007 summit. In Heiligendamm
33rd G8 summit
The 33rd G8 summit took place at Kempinski Grand Hotel in Heiligendamm in the old Duchy of Mecklenburg in the Northern German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern on the Baltic Coast. The group of eight leaders met together from 6 June to 8 June 2007...
in Germany, the G8 leaders agreed to consider a global goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and to negotiate a new global climate pact that would extend and broaden the Kyoto Protocols. For Africa, the G8 pledged $60 billion to fight AIDS
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
, malaria
Malaria
Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease of humans and other animals caused by eukaryotic protists of the genus Plasmodium. The disease results from the multiplication of Plasmodium parasites within red blood cells, causing symptoms that typically include fever and headache, in severe cases...
and tuberculosis
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
; but the declaration set out no specific timetable, nor did it break down individual countries' contributions or spell out how much of the total funds had been previously promised.
Infrastructure Consortium for Africa
The Infrastructure Consortium for AfricaInfrastructure Consortium for Africa
The Infrastructure Consortium for Africa is an international organization dedicated to facilitate progress in support of economic growth and development in Africa. ICA was established at the 31st G8 summit at Gleneagles, Scotland in the United Kingdom in 2005. The consortium is composed its...
(ICA
Infrastructure Consortium for Africa
The Infrastructure Consortium for Africa is an international organization dedicated to facilitate progress in support of economic growth and development in Africa. ICA was established at the 31st G8 summit at Gleneagles, Scotland in the United Kingdom in 2005. The consortium is composed its...
) was established at the 31st G8 summit
31st G8 summit
The 31st G8 summit was held from July 6 to July 8, 2005 at the Gleneagles Hotel in Auchterarder, Scotland, United Kingdom and hosted by British Prime Minister Tony Blair...
at Gleneagles, Scotland
Gleneagles, Scotland
Gleneagles is a glen which connects with Glen Devon to form a pass through the Ochil Hills of Perth and Kinross in Scotland...
in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
in 2005. Since that time, the ICA’s annual meeting is traditionally hosted by the country holding the Presidency of the G8. The 2008 meeting was held in Tokyo in March 2008.
Budget
- ¥30 billion (£283 million; $561 million) used by the National Police Agency for patrolling the venues, including taking counter-terrorism measures. When the three-day meeting ends, Japanese taxpayers will face a bill which dwarfs the estimated £1.3m Britain stumped up at Gleneagles three years ago. A foreign ministry spokesman suggested that "the number of parties attending this year is unprecedented, which has admittedly complicated the arrangements, and it's simply not fair to compare it with previous summits."
- ¥25.5 billion will be spent by the Foreign Ministry.
- approximately ¥9 billion for communications infrastructure between the summit venue in Toyako and Rusutsu, where the international media center will be located.
- approximately ¥5 billion for the media center, which is constructed on a parking lot in a ski resort and will accommodate around 3,000 people from the press and governments. Inside and outside the center, cutting-edge environmental technology, including fuel cells and heat pumps, will be exhibited. The center itself boasts eco-friendly features, including solar panels, "green" walls and a snow cooling system. Once the summit is over, however, the building will be demolished.
- ¥1 billion each for The Defense Ministry and Japan Coast Guard for transporting the leaders and patrolling sea areas near the venue and monitoring the 46 km no-fly zone surrounding the summit site.
The Times reports that the estimated cost of the Hokkaidō summit topped $285 million.
Delegates
With more than 2,000 delegates in total, it is the largest G8 summit ever. Besides the leaders of the G8 nations attending, there are the government leaders of seven African nations and representatives from the five developing countries. Also in attendance are leaders from Australia, Indonesia and South Korea.Logistics
- MediaNews mediaThe news media are those elements of the mass media that focus on delivering news to the general public or a target public.These include print media , broadcast news , and more recently the Internet .-Etymology:A medium is a carrier of something...
: There are approximately 4,000 journalists covering the summit from a specially built ¥2.8-billion ($25.92-million), media center. One hundred antennas were put up for mobile phones. - SiteSiteA site is the location of an event, structure, object, or other thing, whether actual, virtual, abandoned , extant, or planned.*For a building site, see construction.*For a site on the World Wide Web, see website....
: The world leaders are staying at Windsor Hotel Toya ResortThe Windsor Hotel Toya Resort & Spais a resort hotel located in Tōyako, Abuta, Hokkaidō, Japan. Managed by The Windsor Hotels International, the Windsor Hotel Toya Resort & Spa was the main conference site of 34th G8 summit, which is to be the fifth G8 summit to take place in Japan.- History :...
, located on the peak of the 625 m tall Mount Poromoi, overlooking Lake TōyaLake Toyais a volcanic caldera lake in Shikotsu-Toya National Park, Abuta District, Hokkaidō, Japan. The stratovolcano of Mount Usu lies on the southern rim of the caldera. The lake is nearly circular, being 10 kilometers in diameter from east-west and 9 kilometers from North-South. The lakes biggest town,...
. - SecuritySecuritySecurity is the degree of protection against danger, damage, loss, and crime. Security as a form of protection are structures and processes that provide or improve security as a condition. The Institute for Security and Open Methodologies in the OSSTMM 3 defines security as "a form of protection...
: There are more than 20,000 police providing ground-based security. Military security includes 4 fighter jetsFighter aircraftA fighter aircraft is a military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat with other aircraft, as opposed to a bomber, which is designed primarily to attack ground targets...
, AWACS reconnaissance, 12 warshipWarshipA warship is a ship that is built and primarily intended for combat. Warships are usually built in a completely different way from merchant ships. As well as being armed, warships are designed to withstand damage and are usually faster and more maneuvrable than merchant ships...
s and PatriotMIM-104 PatriotThe MIM-104 Patriot is a surface-to-air missile system, the primary of its kind used by the United States Army and several allied nations. It is manufactured by the Raytheon Company of the United States. The Patriot System replaced the Nike Hercules system as the U.S. Army's primary High to Medium...
surface-to-air-missiles. - Human rightsHuman rightsHuman rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
: Over 40 dissidentDissidentA dissident, broadly defined, is a person who actively challenges an established doctrine, policy, or institution. When dissidents unite for a common cause they often effect a dissident movement....
s were arrested before the summit started. At least 4 people were arrested, including a ReutersReutersReuters is a news agency headquartered in New York City. Until 2008 the Reuters news agency formed part of a British independent company, Reuters Group plc, which was also a provider of financial market data...
cameraman, during what a legal observer claimed was a "non-violent demonstration where no acts against property or people took place." - Freedom of speechFreedom of speechFreedom of speech is the freedom to speak freely without censorship. The term freedom of expression is sometimes used synonymously, but includes any act of seeking, receiving and imparting information or ideas, regardless of the medium used...
: Nineteen or twenty Koreans critical of the G8 leadership and expected to participate in citizens' debates were detained by the Japanese authorities at New Chitose AirportNew Chitose Airport, is an airport located south southeast of Chitose and Tomakomai, Hokkaidō, Japan, serving the Sapporo metropolitan area. By land area, it is the largest airport in Hokkaidō....
for at least 24 hours and were expected to be deported. - CostCostIn production, research, retail, and accounting, a cost is the value of money that has been used up to produce something, and hence is not available for use anymore. In business, the cost may be one of acquisition, in which case the amount of money expended to acquire it is counted as cost. In this...
: The total cost of the three-day summit has been estimated at ¥60-billion. - FoodFoodFood is any substance consumed to provide nutritional support for the body. It is usually of plant or animal origin, and contains essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals...
: Fifty chefs from 23 local hotels are creating special meals using 105 different local products; and the first night banquet featured 19 dishes. Expressed differently, the summit leaders enjoyed a six-course lunch followed by an eight-course dinner. - NGOs: More than 140 non-government organizations are holding an alternative summit in the prefectural capital of Sapporo.
Business opportunity
For some, the G8 summit became a profit-generating event; as for example, the G8 Summit magazine which has been published under the auspices of the host nations for distribution to all attendees since 1998.Hokkaido's small businesses which were located near the summit site discovered that most of their customers were policemen during the event; and the tourist trade was virtually dead." The Guardian reported one shop owner's terse point of view: "I just want to get this summit over and done with so we can get back to normal."
In contrast, a foreign ministry spokesman focused on the exposure Toyako [Lake Toya] received in the international media; and he argued that the short-term sacrifice would prove to be worthwhile in terms of long-term business opportunities.
See also
- Intergovernmental Panel on Climate ChangeIntergovernmental Panel on Climate ChangeThe Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is a scientific intergovernmental body which provides comprehensive assessments of current scientific, technical and socio-economic information worldwide about the risk of climate change caused by human activity, its potential environmental and...
- United Nations Framework Convention on Climate ChangeUnited Nations Framework Convention on Climate ChangeThe United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change is an international environmental treaty produced at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development , informally known as the Earth Summit, held in Rio de Janeiro from June 3 to 14, 1992...
External links
- Official municipal website: Toyako-cho Summit Promotion
- University of TorontoUniversity of TorontoThe University of Toronto is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in Upper Canada...
: G8 Research GroupG8 research groupThe G8 Research Groups stated mission is to serve as the world’s leading independent source of information, analysis and research on the institutions, issues and members of the Group of Eight and the G8 Summit....
, G8 Information Centre