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G8 agree on climate change deal, US-Russia tensions ease
Leaders of the world's key industrialized nations Thursday reached an agreement on measures to combat climate change, including efforts to halve global greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
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'It is a major step forward,' Merkel told reporters, adding: 'I can very well live with this compromise.' She, however, admitted: 'None of these documents are binding.'
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'We will seriously consider the decisions made by the European Union, Canada and Japan which include at least a halving of global emissions by 2050,' the statement said, adding: 'We commit to achieving these goals.'
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US President George W. Bush came to the summit refusing to agree to specific targets for slashing greenhouse gas emissions. But he made a surprise proposal last week for a meeting of the world's 15 top emitters for discussions on ways of combating global warming.
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It seems to me as if 2050 is an awfully long ways away, but it better than nothing. If such a long timeline would even have an effect on climate change at all remains to be seen. What also remains to be seen is how closely everybody sticks to the agreement, as it is nonbinding.
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Separately at the meeting, Russia's Putin made a surprise offer to share the use of a radar station in Azerbaijan with the US.
This would ensure better protection against a possible Iranian missile threat than US plans for a missile shield in Central Europe, Putin said.
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If the proposal was accepted by Washington, Russia would not need to retarget Europe in response to the US plan to station elements of a missile shield in Poland and the Czech Republic, Putin added.
He said that such an arrangement would provide security for all of Europe, rather than just parts of the continent.
Bush did not respond to the offer but described his talks with Putin as 'open and constructive'.
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I get the feeling we will ultimately turn down this deal. It doesn't really seem like anybody is truly concerned about Russia's increase agression. Still, it's good to see Putin showing a willingness for compromise.
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Bush sketches 'exciting time' ahead for young people
An 'exciting time' lies ahead for the young, in which cars will be powered by hydrogen and carbon dioxide (CO2) from power stations stored safely underground, US President George W. Bush predicted Thursday at the G8 summit in Heiligendamm.
'I believe in the ingenuity of man. I think you will see a dramatically different world,' Bush told a group of young people invited to the Baltic resort to talk to the leaders of the world's industrialized countries.
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Bush pointed to a future in which grass and wood chips would be used to generate energy. 'I believe we will have coal-fired utilities where CO2 will be sequestered into the ground,' he said.
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New technology would be the emphasis in industry, Abe said. 'We have to look to new technology, such as substituting hydrogen for coke in steel making.'
Like Bush, he said CO2 would be captured at power stations to be stored.
And he added that the new technologies had to be made available to countries like China and India to help them curb their greenhouse gas emissions.
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I'm not holding my breath, but all this does sound like what we all want to hear. The question is are they just telling us what we all want to hear?
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US, Japan urge G8 to censure North Korea
The US and Japan called on the Group of Eight (G leaders to send a 'convincing message' to North Korea to shut down its nuclear weapons programme.
During a meeting ahead of the start of the G8 summit Wednesday in the historic German resort of Heiligendamm, US President George W Bush and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe agreed that 'patience is not unlimited,' a Japanese official said.
Abe also criticized Pyongyang, saying the 'lack of a sincere response on the part of North Korea' to the questions of nuclear disarmament and abducted Japanese nationals was 'extremely regrettable.'
Both the Japanese and the US leaders agreed that the G8 summit's final document should call on North Korea to start moves towards nuclear disarmament as agreed to at the six-party talks in February.
The agreed deadline for closing down North Korea's reactor in Yongbyon got over in April, after the US declined to transfer 25-million US dollars from frozen North Korean accounts in Macau.
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The regime in Pyongyang only last week restated its willingness to fulfil its commitment under the agreement from February 13, as soon as the 25 million dollars have been transferred.
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I hope this is followed through on, but in no way should we give them the money first. NK is no trustworthy enough. Disarm first; get paid later. That has to be the way it works.
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G8 leaders' spouses hold parallel summit in Germany
Heiligendamm, June 7 (RIA Novosti) As leaders of the world's eight leading industrialized nations came together in northern Germany for a three-day summit, their spouses met Thursday for a parallel forum, with a less divisive agenda to pursue.
The key event on the alternate gathering's programme was a discussion of demographic development issues at the Burg Schlitz castle, near the German seaside resort of Heiligendamm, venue of the main G8 summit.
The husband of German Chancellor Angela Merkel welcomed his counterparts from Britain, France, Italy, the United States, Canada, Japan and Russia to the elegant early-19th-century property for the discussion, and a subsequent luncheon.
The G8 leaders' spouses will head for the Baltic port of Wismar Friday for a meeting with participants in the Junior 8 summit, an international youth conference with an agenda that mirrors that of the G8 summit.
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Cute. Pointless, but cute.
06-07-2007, 06:08 PM
G8 Summit Wrap-up
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