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 The G8 Action Network, a network of civil society organisations which oppose the G8 summit, has released a statement reacting to the G8's communiqué on climate change, which branded the summit's stance "inaction being masked as movement".
G8 Action Network supports the statement of the Government of South Africa that "[W]hile the Statement may appear as a movement forward, we are concerned that it may, in effect, be a regression from what is required to make a meaningful contribution to meeting the challenges of climate change." Specific criticisms of the communiqué voiced by the G8 Action Network include the lack of a clear baseline for the target of 50 per cent global emissions cuts by 2050, the fact that the targets are global rather than focused on key polluters such as the USA and other industrialised nations, and the absence of binding commitments. The network also claims that the G8's support for the World Bank's Climate Investment Funds is "the height of hypocrisy", as: "With $2 billion already spent on coal, oil and gas projects over the last year, the World Bank has broken its own record as the world's largest multilateral financier of greenhouse-emitting energy initiatives." The statement closes with a warning that: "Saying that [the communiqué] is better than nothing or that it is realistic given the Bush administration's opposition to significant action is to lend legitimacy to a dangerous charade." Source: |
