G-8 Leaders Agree On Greenhouse Gas Cuts

Leaders of the Group of Eight (G-8) leading industrial countries have agreed to try to limit average global temperature increases to just 2 degree Celsius (3.6F°) above pre-industrial levels by cutting their greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) by 80% by 2050---ahead of the first big meeting of world leaders on climate change.

The summit, in L'Aquila in the middle of the Abruzzo region in central Italy, also set tough new targets for carbon emissions considered necessary to achieve the goal. Developed nations pledged to take on the lion's share of the emission reductions and will cut carbon emissions by 80% by 2050, to allow a global 50% reduction by the same date.

However, an agreement on the base year from which the reductions are to be reckoned is yet to be reached. The developing countries, including India and China, as well as the European nations want to set 1990 as the base year while the United States, Australia and Japan would push it to 2005.

"We recognize the broad scientific view that the increase in global average temperature above pre-industrial levels ought not to exceed 2 degrees Celsius," the G-8 leaders said in a declaration.

"Because this global challenge can only be met by a global response, we reiterate our willingness to share with all countries the goal of achieving at least a 50 per cent reduction of global emission by 2050," they added. The agreement, made possible by the radical U.S. shift in stance towards global warming since Barack Obama replaced George Bush as president, marked a major breakthrough ahead of the United Nations climate change summit in Copenhagen in December.

Gordon Brown, U.K. prime minister, hailed the deal as "historic" and was confident non-G8 countries would back the commitments during Thursday's discussions on climate change. European Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso said countries were much closer now to securing agreement on the target than they were a year ago, because the U.S. was prepared to back it. "For the first time, now under President Obama, the United States accepts the reference of 2 degrees," he said.

The U.S. Congress narrowly approved the Clean Energy Act last month, helping to restore U.S. leadership in the battle against climate change after a belligerent stand adopted by Obama's predecessor George Bush. The bill, now before the Senate, aims to reduce GHG emissions by 17% from 2005 levels by 2020, and 83% by 2050. The 27-nation European Union is aiming to cut GHG emissions by 20% from 1990 levels by 2020, increasing to 30% if other big polluters make ambitious commitments in Copenhagen.

However, the cut in carbon emissions is only a target and the G-8 major industrialized powers now faces a tough challenge to secure the co-operation of emerging economies such as China and India to accept caps on their own fast-increasing carbon use if the world is to reach the overall 50% cut in emissions believed necessary by the middle of the century to hit the 2C° target.

China and India had refused to sign up to the global target because the G-8 nations had not put forward proposals for financing emissions cuts--estimated at $100 billion--and measures to adapt to climate change, forestry and changes in production technologies. They believe that the lion's share of any self-restraint must be shown by the western nations which have contributed most to global warming by their use of fossil fuels since the industrial revolution. The other roadblock in the way of the developing and poor nations is the transfer of technology. Much of the current technology is protected by intellectual property rights and high licensing fees stand in the way of these nations acquiring these technologies. The early departure of Hu Jintao, China's president, from the Italy Wednesday made any change in position even less likely. Earlier this week, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said that the West bore a "historical responsibility" for climate change, though negotiators at the G-8 summit suggested that New Delhi may be coming round to the need for agreement.

The out-reach five of emerging economies comprising China, India, Mexico, Brazil and South Africa are due to join the G-8 leaders for talks on climate change Thursday. These will be followed by a summit of the Major Economies Forum (MEF) on the climate, which Obama is co-chairing with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. The 13 states plus other major CO2 emitters like Australia, Indonesia and South Korea would be taking part in the summit. Obama called the meeting of the MEF to break the deadlock in climate change talks, aimed at producing a successor to the Kyoto protocol at a conference in Copenhagen in December.

Source : Trading Markets, July 9th, 2009