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Vague G8 Goals Deflate Green Hopes

'Fuzzy-minded' declaration on climate change sinks hopes for immediate action

By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff

Posted Jul 9, 2008 2:08 AM CDT
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(Newser) – G8 leaders are hailing an agreement to cut carbon emissions in half by 2050 as "major progress" in combating climate change—but their failure to come up with concrete shorter-term goals is a major letdown, Bryan Walsh writes in Time. The agreement, so vague it doesn't even say which year is to be used as a starting point, is unlikely to spur the immediate changes needed to avert possible catastrophe.

The "fuzzy-minded statement" is especially disappointing because China and India had signaled their readiness to act before 2020 in concert with developed nations, breaking a long-standing stalemate on who should cut emissions first, Walsh writes. "The only strong signal the G8 declaration sends is that the world is still not ready to act," he complains.

Leaders of Group of Eight take shovels to plant trees commemorating the G8 summit prior to a group photo session in Toyako, northern Japan Tuesday, July 8, 2008.
Leaders of Group of Eight take shovels to plant trees commemorating the G8 summit prior to a group photo session in Toyako, northern Japan Tuesday, July 8, 2008.   (AP Photo/RIA Novosti, Dmitry Astakhov, Presidential Press Service)
Members of Oxfam, dressed as G8 leaders, display balloon clusters representing the amount of carbon their countries emit per capita in Sapporo on Japan's northern main island of Hokkaido today.
Members of Oxfam, dressed as G8 leaders, display balloon clusters representing the amount of carbon their countries emit per capita in Sapporo on Japan's northern main island of Hokkaido today.   (AP Photo/Itsuo Inouye)
Cut-out figures showing the leaders of the G8 countries stand on an a symbolic ice float during a press event of the German Green Party in the harbor of Rostock, Germany, Tuesday, June 5, 2007.
Cut-out figures showing the leaders of the G8 countries stand on an a symbolic ice float during a press event of the German Green Party in the harbor of Rostock, Germany, Tuesday, June 5, 2007.   (AP Photo/Jens Meyer)
Flags of G8 countries flutters in the wind outside the Hokkaido summit.
Flags of G8 countries flutters in the wind outside the Hokkaido summit.   (Getty Images)
US President George W. Bush speaks during a press conference...
US President George W. Bush speaks during a press conference...   (Getty Images (by Event) Individuals)
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Greens slam G8's 'stalling tactic'
CNN

Carefully worded statement gives leaders something to take home
Times (UK)

 
climate change • G8 summit • Group of Eight • summit • carbon emissions

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