Subscribe to Common Dreams News Updates
Most Popular This Week
Popular content
Today's Top News
G8: World Leaders Fail to Agree on Specific Target for Climate Cuts
World leaders, including the developing nations, yesterday committed themselves only to "substantially reducing global emissions by 2050", but failed to agree a specific target, according to a draft of the communique due to be issued later today.
A general view of the round table session during the G8 summit in L'Aquila, Italy July 9, 2009. Leaders of the world's richest nations and major developing powers meet on Thursday to seek common ground on global warming and international trade, with the poorer countries seeking concessions. REUTERS/Stephane de Sakutin/POOL (ITALY POLITICS) The draft states: "We recognise the scientific view that the increase in global average temperature above pre-industrial levels ought not to exceed two degrees centigrade."
The draft is due to be issued by the Major Economies Forum under the chairmanship of Barack Obama. The MEF contributes 80% of world emissions.
The lack of a substantive agreement, other than the desire to keep global temperatures down, leaves world leaders facing daunting negotiations to reach agreement at the Copenhagen conference in December, which is due to set the entire climate change framework covering the period from 2012 to 2050.
Developed nations, according to the draft, agree to work in the run-up to the UN Copenhagen conference in December "to identify a global goal for substantially reducing global emissions by 2050". In a weak reference to the need for interim targets for 2020 emission cuts, the draft simply states the global goal will be regularly reviewed.
The statement does not commit either developed or developing nations to the worldwide 50% cuts target by 2050 agreed by the G8 on Wednesday. The language agreed jointly on 2C in today's draft is exactly the same as that deployed by the G8 nations on Wednesday.
The draft statement also states that "the financial resources for mitigation and adaptation will need to be scaled up urgently and substantially and should involve mobilising resources to support developing countries".
But no figure is given for the scale of resources required in the communique. Green and aid groups suggest that as much as $150bn per year in additional funds will be required to help developing countries respond to the effect of climate change. A lot of this money would be privately funded green technology transferred to developing nations, or cash raised from the nascent carbon market.
They also derided today's draft statement, with Tearfund warning: "This rolling dialogue points to the opposite direction to urgency and must not continue. We now have to wait until the UN September meetings when the heads of state will gather once again."
The developing countries are refusing to commit themselves to specific target cuts at this stage partly because they do not know what proportion of the burden of cutting emissions will be taken in the interim.
Developing nations such as Mexico want the rich countries to commit themselves to 40% carbon cuts by 2020, against a baseline of 1990 levels, so that developing countries do not have to take responsibility for the industrialisation of the rich.
6 Comments so far
Show All"Developing nations such as Mexico want the rich countries to commit themselves to 40% carbon cuts by 2020, against a baseline of 1990 levels, so that developing countries do not have to take responsibility for the industrialisation of the rich."
Of course they do, this is the best way for developing countries to transfer wealth from richer countries to their own.
And all this in search of question to an answer. Ignoring reality in favor of ideology makes one look foolish.
A 40% reduction in carbon emissions is entirely doable--FOR OUR OWN SAKE!
No reduction in the quality of life for "rich countries" is required.
Support "Plan B" (Ref: http://vortexengine.ca)
let's see, "substantially reducing global emissions by 2050" might be a bit late. ah, leadership. or lack thereof.
enjoy the ride, folks. it's going to be wild. and a bit unpleasant.
This is pathetic. We the fortunate few that have lived in relative wealth and security are knowingly ruining the future of all children. We will leave to them a frightening world stripped of its beauty, ugly, harsh and terrible.
"identify a global goal for substantially reducing global emissions by 2050". 2050? A goal? This is sad beyond words. A horrible joke. 2050? We don't even know if it is already too late.
As always it is the rich who say we can't afford to pay for this. What about those "poor countries'? They gotta pay their share. If half the money and effort used by the rich countries to kill poor people, and to build missles and tanks to kill poor people, were used to fix this we could probably give young people at least a fighting chance, but to the very end we are selfish and quarrel over who should pay for this. How about a Secretary of Climate Change. Give Her all the money that was going to be spent on cluster bombs and predator drones to build mass transit, and clean power. How about it Mr. Obama? I saw your beautiful daugher wearing a peace sign T-shirt. How about some "change" for Her. For all the young.
I am sick at heart and ashamed. I am in my 40s. If I am lucky I probably wont live to see the worst of what is to come. I dont have kids. I can't imagine what it would be like to think that my children could live in a world where most wild species have become extinct, where there are unending wars over water and food. Where there are "no arts; no letters; no society; and which is worst of all, continual fear and danger of violent death; and the life of man, solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short".
I am sorry.
Insanity strikes !
The G8 are insulting our intelligence! The G8 summit - Where Stupidity meets Arrogance!
If this is the best what humanity has to offer, you can kiss that species goodbye!
BBC News July 8. 09 : “Leaders of the G8 leading industrial countries have agreed to try to limit global warming to just 2C (3.6F) above pre-industrial levels by 2050.”
Great, - I wish we could smoking something like this over here, - and get paid for it.
After the G20 had nothing better to offer than calling for more “Growth”, this more limited bunch of ‘Leaders’ has really shown us their limited Consciousness, - if any.
With no idea what is going-on in Life and on this Planet, they are simply Criminally Negligent
(The failure to use reasonable care to avoid consequences that threaten or harm the safety of the public and that are the foreseeable outcome of acting in a particular manner.)
Since a few thousand years we are trying to make peace with our fellow man, and to divide the gifts of this planet between a growing number of people.
Just coping with these, our social issues, we are still prejudice against Race, Class, Gender, Sexual-orientation, Age & religion etc.
All we have achieved in this regard,is to build a huge arsenal of nuclear weapons, able to destroy OUR entire planet a few hundred times !? plus a bunch of ‘intelligent’ Spy & Killer Drones which cannot tell the difference between “an ass and an elbow”!
Now, this same ‘Intelligence’ which has build Walls & Fences to keep people in & out of properties
but is unable to maintain Dikes & Levees to keep them dry and safe, want to ‘limit global warming’ - ?? Da daah ??,-
This was announced by some ignorant super dummies, in a town just leveled by an earthquake which nobody could predict or even prevent.
They are unable & incompetent to control even the ‘simplest’ manmade actions like War,
Population-growth, Food-supply, Property-distribution, Health & Education.
Now, after centuries of war against Nature & Spirituality, the‘Leaders’ of this sick Linear Culture have the arrogance to announce the attempt to “limit global warming” ?? – like speeding or drug-abuse ?
Limiting earthquakes, sunshine, hurricanes & birth-rates ??
Sounds like another “Nuke the Whales for Jesus” approach!
My simple math does not even add-up to 10billion viewers
for the “Zimbabwe has Talent” show in 2050 ?
Think again and again !
This is the same shortsightedness which has lead us to this ‘End of the Rope’ !
In other words, and this is for the materialist,
Life & Nature will just throw us all into the compost of History & Time,
recycle all the junk we produced, and continue without our self-righteous arrogance & ignorance.
This will be the End of Quantity & Size, a small ECO-nomic adjustment of Nature;
- Natures answer to Blasphemy and the return to a Life of Quality & Balance.
And for those who believe & live in this paradigm of Good & Bad, Opportunities & Limitations,
it would be better to chase these parasites out of town.
-Hope is all you have and remember:
You can not eat your BlackBerry !
But for those who refuse to belong to this Linear & Limited Culture
you can just standby and watch real Life to unfold!
With no Ends and Limitations in sight we can only have Compassion for these fools
digging their own graves;
They don’t know where they Belong!
Do you know where you belong ?
www.quest4belonging,com
The picture shows pretty fancy digs for people who are supposed to be public servants.
It looks to me like you people are having a cluster fuck while the world goes to hell.
I wish we could see a fifty year fast forward of that picture. That would be one of those international security black out deals.