Blog reactions to the G8 summit in Japan

G8 food security statement. Speculation began on Friday that the G8 would announce a food and grain stockpile system to use in case of crises to stabilize prices. However, the language in today’s statement avoided any commitment to such an arrangement. — CIGI

G8 commitments on climate change. The G8 commitment to halving carbon emissions by 2050 may be ‘pathetically inadequate’ but it represents the first time that the USA has ever committed to a specific numerical goal for emissions reductions (even if only over a very long timeframe and in a global context). — Larvatus Prodeo

G8 on Africa and development. Just a week ago, the Financial Times was speculating that the G8 leaders might backtrack on the commitment made at Gleneagles to increase aid to Africa to $25 billion by 2010. However, it looks like the G8 leaders have reaffirmed this commitment. But why aren’t they looking at how to encourage private sector involvement in things like training health workers? — PSD Blog

The global food crisis. The root cause of the food crisis is not scarcity, but the failed economic policies long championed by the G8, namely, trade liberalization and industrial agriculture. Yet, in the search for solutions, the G8 is considering expanded support for the very measures that caused this web of problems. Calls for more tariff reductions, biofuel plantations, genetically modified crops, and wider use of petroleum-based fertilizers and chemical pesticides are at the forefront of discussions in Japan. — Chrisy58