G-8 Leaders Paper over Environmental Cracks

The G-8 Summit in Japan issued some environmental drivel in the final communiqué that will allow the rich countries of the world to do very little on greenhouse gas emissions until some of the rapidly growing economies (e.g., India and China) do likewise. To which these countries will reply, “when we have your standard of living, sign us up.” Indeed, some of those countries met with the G-8 summiteers and said more needed to be done than the communiqué suggested.

As a sample of diplomatic brilliance in the face of discord, one can only admire the Sir Humphrey Appleby tone of:

We seek to share with all Parties to the UNFCCC the vision of, and together with them to consider and adopt in the UNFCCC negotiations, the goal of achieving at least 50% reduction of global emissions by 2050, recognizing that this global challenge can only be met by a global response, in particular, by the contributions from all major economies, consistent with the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities. Substantial progress toward such a long-term goal requires, inter alia, in the near-term, the acceleration of the deployment of existing technologies, and in the medium- and long-term, will depend on the development and deployment of low-carbon technologies in ways that will enable us to meet our sustainable economic development and energy security objectives. In this regard, we emphasize the importance and urgency of adopting appropriate measures to stimulate development and deployment of innovative technologies and practices.