UK relief and development agency Tearfund says important steps to halt climate change were finally made today at the G8 summit in Heiligendamm, Germany, following 24 hours of negotiations and months of behind-the-scenes bargaining.
But Tearfund is disappointed at the failure of all G8 countries to agree a clear target to keep temperature rise well below 2 degrees above historic levels.
The G8 leaders committed themselves to making ‘substantial cuts’ in CO2 emissions. They said that a framework for this would be worked out through the UN by 2009. This means that the separate meetings posited by the US administration will now feed into the UN negotiations.
EU leaders, with Japan and Canada, also signalled their commitment to aim for global carbon emissions cuts of 50 per cent by 2050.
Andy Atkins, Advocacy Director for Tearfund said: ‘The G8 leaders have jumped some important hurdles but there is a long way to the finishing line. It is significant that they have agreed to start talks in Bali in December and conclude them by 2009 under the authority of the UN.
'It's also important that the communiqué notes the commitment by the EU, Japan and Canada to the goal of at least 50 per cent global emissions cuts by 2050. This will put pressure on other countries.
‘It’s important too that the G8 have noted that climate change is already affecting people in the developing world. But it is disappointing that they have not yet made any concrete new commitments to help developing countries adapt to the ravages of climate change.
‘All eyes will now be on Bali in December when serious global negotiations on climate change will begin. Only if those negotiations are concluded successfully will we be able to say that the world is on course to avert catastrophic climate change.’
Andy Atkins is available in the Kuhlungsborn press centre for interview and briefing. Contact him on +44 (0) 7949 181414
Read a full Tearfund policy analysis of the G8 outcomes here.