“Global food crisis? Climate change? Let them eat cake,” said the Daily Mail. World leaders at the G8 summit in Japan say they are aiming for a cut in greenhouse gas emissions of 50% by 2050, but have produced more than 8,400 tonnes of CO2 between them while getting there. And it “may be a cheap shot”, but there is something symbolic about Gordon Brown beginning his day with a plea for frugality in Britain and ending it with a lavish 18-course dinner in Hokkaido.
What do you expect? asked Jeffrey Simpson in Canada’s Globe and Mail. G8 summits seldom achieve anything. Look at Gleneagles and the promises made on world poverty. If the meetings have any value, it lies in informal conversations among leaders. That human contact is “indispensable”, said Max Hastings. The world faces daunting challenges and if we are to have a hope of getting anything done, it “must be through the concerted efforts of members of such bodies as the G8”. Unfortunately, most members still prefer to protect their national interests and it doesn’t help that this year’s summit, featuring Bush, Brown, Berlusconi, Sarkozy and Medvedev, “conjures images of a political A&E ward on a Saturday night”.
What the G8 says doesn’t matter anyway, said Hamish McCrae in The Independent. It represents the old economic powers, not the new ones, so who cares about their pledges on carbon emissions? What really matters is what the Brics (Brazil, Russia, India and China) do. According to the latest model from Goldman Sachs, by 2050 the top eight will be China, US, India, Brazil, Russia, Indonesia, Mexico and the UK. It’s time we embraced the shift of power taking place, and co-opting China and India on to the new G10 would be a start.