L'AQUILA —

The Group of Eight major powers agreed Friday to commit $20 billion in food security aid to the world’s poor as they wrapped up their annual summit that included outreach sessions with dialogue partners, including African nations.
   
But in the course of the three-day meeting in the central Italian city of L’Aquila, the leaders of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the United States failed to bridge gaps with emerging economies on setting a specific long-term goal for greenhouse gas emissions reductions.
 
In the chair’s summary issued by Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, the rich countries’ club also called for their concerted efforts to create a nuclear-free world, while warning that their economies still face downside risks despite emerging signs toward recovery.
   
In another successful outcome, the G-8 agreed with major developing nations to seek to conclude the stalled Doha Round of trade liberalization talks under the World Trade Organization next year in an effort to tackle growing protectionist moves.
   
In line with their commitment to beefing up the nuclear nonproliferation regime, the G-8 leaders also condemned in the chair’s summary North Korea’s recent nuclear test and ballistic launches ‘‘in the strongest terms.’‘
   
On the food security issue, the G-8 and its dialogue partners said in a separate joint statement issued earlier Friday, ‘‘We welcome the commitments made by countries represented at L’Aquila toward a goal of mobilizing $20 billion over three years.’‘
   
Of the total, Japan intends to contribute around $3 billion, Japanese officials said.
   
The food security initiative by the G-8 countries comes as the number of people suffering from hunger has been increasing worldwide amid the global economic crisis and with food prices remaining at high levels after peaking last year.
   
In the G-8’s session Friday with outreach partners, Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso said his country will commit at least $3 billion in helping to boost farming and related infrastructure in developing nations from 2010 to 2012, according to a Japanese official.
   
Aso also proposed launching a forum aimed at building a ‘‘sound’’ farmland investment system in developing nations, warning that high food prices have triggered land buyouts by foreign investors, the official said.
   
Japan is eyeing holding such a meeting of related officials from the G-8 as well as international organizations concerned on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly scheduled for September in New York.
   
The total food security aid was earlier estimated at around $15 billion, but the leaders at Friday’s session showed a stronger commitment to helping the world’s poor and decided to increase the amount, the official said.
   
In a separate session on the final day, African nations asked the G-8 leaders to step up their efforts in assistance to the continent, which has taken the brunt of the world’s economic recession as well as global warming, according to the officials.
   
Leaders of African nations complained that they have emitted hardly any greenhouse gases, which cause global warming, but that they are the ones affected most badly by the phenomenon, the officials said.
   
They also sought the steady implementation by the G-8 countries of pledges on official development assistance made at their Gleneagles summit in 2005 as well as the commitments made at the Group of 20 financial summit in April.
   
On Wednesday, the G-8 leaders reaffirmed the need to at least halve global greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, as agreed upon during last year’s summit in Japan, and urged developed nations as a whole to slash heat-trapping gas emissions by 80% or more to that end.
   
But the next day, they failed to narrow gaps with emerging and developing nations over the long-term global emissions cut target, with developing countries demanding that the rich nations do more—signaling the declining significance of the G-8 framework.
   
As a result, the summary issued by Berlusconi only says a multilateral forum on climate change, including G-8 countries and emerging economies, that met Thursday ‘‘reiterated the importance of keeping the increase in average global temperature below 2 degrees Celsius, as recognized by the G-8,’’ without mentioning a specific reduction target for 2050.

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4 Comments

• 

  northlondon at 04:41 PM JST - 11th July

  The Group of Eight major powers agreed Friday to commit $20 billion in food security aid to the world’s poor

  They might want some form of security from the Italians, who have so far provided only 3% of their previous promises towards global aid. A disgrace.

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  jhk at 05:19 PM JST - 11th July

  20B? That's it? The UN estimated 1BN in poverty worldwide, that's $6.66/person/year.

  GDP per capita of the US is $47,000/person/year, that's one percent of one percent (0.0001).

  Japan spent 60BN on the US defense system, and donates 3BN for poverty defense.

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  TheQuestion at 09:57 PM JST - 11th July

  20B? That's it? The UN estimated 1BN in poverty worldwide, that's $6.66/person/year.

  Setting the standard low is the only way to insure it is achieved. That's U.N logic 101 and apparetnly the G-8 have been taking the lesson to heart.

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  jhk at 02:07 AM JST - 14th July

  Why don't they pledge zero then, keep the standard at its lowest, and take that to heart.

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