G8 must give fair solution to climate change

As the 2008 G8 Summit opens in Hokkaido, Northern Japan, anti-poverty advocates are demanding that G8 ministers "exercise urgency and fairness" in meeting the needs and rights of the world's poor. 

The Global Call to Action against Poverty (GCAP) in Asia is calling on leaders of G8 nations attending the Summit to urgently address worsening global poverty levels, promote energy efficiency, as well as secure a reduction in carbon emissions. 

"We want G8 nations to take urgent and firm action to address worsening global poverty. Soaring food and oil prices are reversing whatever little progress has been made towards the Millennium Development Goals denying millions of people their basic human rights to food, health care, education, and safe water." said Nur Amalia, GCAP coordinator in Indonesia, one of several GCAP-Asia campaigners who are in Japan for the Summit.

More and better aid

GCAP-Asia is specifically urging G8 leaders to make aid more effective in meeting the needs and rights of the poor. This includes increasing Official Development Assistance (ODA) by an extra $50 billion by 2010, with $25 billion of this for Africa, and each G8 nation provides a detailed timetable for their budget increases to achieve this in the next two years.

"The G8 must recognise that they are failing to meet the promised aid levels and all G8 countries need to reaffirm their commitment to the Gleneagles pledges. Better quality of aid is needed to attain the MDGs, as well as to sustain emergency poverty-reduction programs that would allow developing countries to prioritize feeding their people and also invest in health and education," said Ana Maria R. Nemenzo of GCAP Philippines.

Nemenzo stressed aid must be made more effective in meeting the needs and rights of the poor in a time of rising food and crude prices and relentless devastation brought about by global warming.

"Aid should not be in the form of conditional loans that only serve to plunge poor nations into indebtedness.  The kind of aid that is effective and needed by poor nations is grants, not loans," said Nemenzo.

Full debt cancellation

GCAP Asia campaigners are demanding 100% debt cancellation for developing countries. Abdul Awal, co-convener of the GCAP coalition in Bangladesh said debt cancellation is needed for countries like Bangladesh that continue to face a heavy debt burden at a great cost to the poorest people.

"The G8 must agree to full debt cancellation for countries like Bangladesh which suffers from a heavy debt burden that prevents it from meeting its people's basic needs," said Awal.

Awal added that the rural poor are badly squeezed between the impacts of soaring food prices and climate change. The G8 nations must agree during the Summit on medium-term greenhouse gas reduction targets and on a multibillion-dollar climate fund.

 No to false solutions to climate change

"The poor rely on land for subsistence and economic activity. What is happening now is that they are being displaced from their homes and livelihoods and becoming climate refugees. We are asking the G8 leaders to adopt measures that will be fair to them and also solutions that are sustainable, not false and token solutions," Awal said. 

Anil K. Singh, convener of GCAP South Asia, said that while the G8 plans to reach a final agreement on the multibillion-dollar climate fund during the Summit, it must ensure that the funding to help poor countries adapt to climate change impacts will not be taken from existing aid budgets and will not be allocated as loans.
 
"Fair solution means the polluter pays.  It means compensation for those who have contributed least to the problem but have been most affected and have the least capacity to cope," he added.

GCAP is demanding that the G8 reach a collective commitment to reduce their domestic carbon emissions by at least 80% from their 1990 levels by 2050, as precondition for a global long-term emission reduction goal, which needs to be agreed on under the UNFCCC framework.

"This should not be done by nuclear options but by clean, efficient, renewable technology. Huge areas of rainforest are being converted into plantations to make palm oil that is an essential feedstock for biodiesel. Instead, we need to increase the forest cover through sustainable forest management. These are fair solutions for the poor and for the generations to come," he said.

The global anti-poverty coalition is also demanding that G8 countries commit to ensuring that sufficient resources and other incentives are made available to assist developing countries in building sustainable, low carbon economies, and in supporting efforts to adapt to the immediate and future impact of climate change, in particular in the least developed countries and small island states.

These commitments need to be sufficient with at least $50 billion needed annually for adaptation, and these resources must be additional to the UN target of 0.7% of GNI, and be provided in the form of grants rather than any kind of loans. Mitigation-related needs, including means to avoid deforestation, are in addition to this amount.
 
For further information, contact:

Lani C. Villanueva
Communication Officer
Global Call to Action against Poverty
Southeast North Central Asia
Telefax: +63 (2) 436 6054
Mobile: +63 917 811 6871