34th G8 Summit - Accomplishments

Accomplishments

The composition of the G8 summit is not an agenda item, but wanted to see the group expand to include China, Mexico, India, Brazil and other major economies like Australia, South Korea and Spain. The G8 summit is an international event which is observed and reported by news media, but the G8's continuing relevance after more than 30 years is somewhat unclear. More than one analyst suggests that a G-8 summit is not the place to flesh out the details of any difficult or controversial policy issue in the context of a three-day event. Rather, the meeting offers an opportunity to bring a range of complex and sometimes inter-related issues. The G8 summit brings leaders together "not so they can dream up quick fixes, but to talk and think about them together."

Analysts anticipate that this will not be a summit in which an ambitious new agenda is mapped out, but rather one which will be cautiously focused on trying to keep the lid on growing global discontent. In 1976, the first year Canada attended, the nations issued a 1,600-word statement that made seven commitments, none of which were ever fully delivered by the members. In 2007, the nations made 329 commitments, about a third of which are being turned into reality. This, defenders of the G8 say, is proof of the summits' continuing effectiveness: the G8 are generally doing a better job than ever before of delivering on pledges made at these annual summit meetings.

The projected evaluation of this G8 summit can be assessed or measured in a context which encompasses the most recent G8 summits. At the 2004 summit at Sea Island in United States, the G8 leaders agreed to extend debt relief programs for poor countries, but fell short of demands for a total write-off of loans owed by African nations to multilateral lending agencies. The G8 leaders said they would extend the term of the Highly Indebted Poor Countries initiative, under which poor states can write off some of their debt. A summary of accomplishments from the three most recent G8 summits would include:

2005 summit. In Gleneagles in Scotland, the G8 leaders agreed to more than double aid to Africa by 2010; but aid agencies argued there was little new money in the pledge. They also pledged that G8 nations and other donors would increase total aid for all developing countries by about $50 billion a year by 2010. Assistance to Africa was put at the top of the 2005 summit by British Prime Minister Tony Blair; but those well-intentioned plans were thwarted because Blair was forced to return to London after terrorist bomb explosions disrupted London's public transportation. The discussion about African issues was not as fruitful as the regular G8 sessions and had a "fragmented" character. A credible analysis of the summit suggests that Gleneagles stands apart from the other G8 summits ....

It would have been a regular summit if not for the terrorist attacks on London, as odd as it may seem at first sight. Although the tragedy took away a considerable portion of attention that would have otherwise been directed to the world richest and most powerful countries ..., the attacks provided for the relative success of the summit ... due to the necessity to demonstrate the united front against terrorism and to achieve somewhat tangible results that terrorists could not prevent.

2006 summit. In Saint Petersburg in Russia, the G8 leaders agreed to a formal agenda of energy security, combating infectious diseases and promoting education—all topics held little controversy and required no financial commitment by G8 members. Assistance to Africa from the 2005 summit agenda re-appeared on the 2006 agenda; but no tangible actions ensued.

2007 summit. In Heiligendamm in Germany, the G8 leaders agreed to consider a global goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and to negotiate a new global climate pact that would extend and broaden the Kyoto Protocols. For Africa, the G8 pledged $60 billion to fight AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis; but the declaration set out no specific timetable, nor did it break down individual countries' contributions or spell out how much of the total funds had been previously promised.