Update 7 June 17.00 BST: Leaders of the G8 have agreed a compromise deal on tackling climate change. 鈥淕lobal greenhouse gas emissions must stop rising, followed by substantial global emission reductions,鈥� reads the final text of the summit declaration. . And a draft version of the statement, with the US鈥檚 comments is .
Original article: In a surprise announcement, US President George W. Bush has said his county will 鈥渓ead鈥� efforts to build a new international framework to tackle climate change.
The statement, consistent with Bush鈥檚 new-found determination to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (see Bush merely 鈥榮talling鈥� on climate, say experts), was made early on 7 June as the G8 began the second day of its annual summit in Heiligendamm, Germany.
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鈥淲e are deadly earnest about getting something done,鈥� said Bush as he stood next to UK Prime Minister Tony Blair. 鈥淭he US will be actively involved 鈥� if not taking the lead 鈥� in a post-Kyoto framework.鈥�
Substantial reductions
The Kyoto protocol expires in 2012, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel has made discussions of a post-Kyoto agreement the focus of this year鈥檚 G8 summit. She is pressing for the G8 countries to adopt targets to reduce emissions by 50% below 1990 levels by 2050 (see G8 climate pact: the missing text).
鈥淚 think it is possible that we leave this summit with a commitment on the part of everyone to a substantial reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 as a global target,鈥� said Blair.
But he added that if the leaders of the G8 would not agree on a quantified target for reducing emissions: 鈥淭his can鈥檛 be negotiated at the G8, the detail of this.鈥�
Numerical target
On 31 May, Bush called on the world鈥檚 15 largest emitters of greenhouse gases, led by the US, China, Russia and India, to set goals for reducing emissions by the end of 2008.
鈥淎greeing on a numerical target is a significant first step, and not taking that first step is going to condemn us to a lot of pain and suffering in terms of the impacts of climate change,鈥� agrees Neil Adger, from the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research in the UK.
Oil giant BP, which supports a target of halving 1990鈥檚 emissions by 2050, says that committing to a long-term goal would encourage the development of new technologies. 鈥淚t needs to be quantitative, numerical,鈥� says Chris Mottershead, energy and environment adviser to BP.
On 5 June, leaders of 23 major companies issued a calling on the G8 leaders to back 鈥渄eep emission reduction targets鈥�. The signatories of the statement, which included chief executives and managing directors from insurance companies and financial institutions, said failing to do so could result in $1 trillion in economic losses by 2040.
AIDS commitments
Climate change and energy are among many topics on the G8 agenda. Leaders are also discussing their 2005 commitment to provide universal access to treatment for all AIDS patients.
But on 7 June, the Financial Times newspaper, reported that leaked documents from the summit, reveal that instead, the G8 aims to help 鈥渙ver the next few years 鈥� approximately five million people鈥� by providing them with 鈥渓ife-saving anti-retroviral treatment.鈥� In 2006, there were more than 38 million people worldwide with HIV, according to figures from UNAIDS, the United Nation鈥檚 AIDS body.
Climate Change 鈥� Want to know more about global warming: the science, impacts and political debate? Visit our continually updated special report.
