Leaders of the Group of 8 countries issued a joint communique and a "plan
of action" on Climate Change, Clean Energy, and Sustainable Development.
In the communique, the leaders declared that "climate change is a serious
and long-term challenge that has the potential to affect every part of the
globe" and that human activities "contribute in large part to increases in
greenhouse gases associated with the warming of the Earth's surface."
Borrowing language first used by President Bush in announcing his climate
policy in February 2002, the communique further said that, "While
uncertainties remain in our understanding of climate science, we know
enough to act now to put ourselves on a path to slow and, as the science
justifies, stop and then reverse the growth of greenhouse gases."
The leaders agreed to launch, and invited other countries to join, a
Dialogue on Climate Change, Clean Energy and Sustainable Development to
"address the strategic challenge of transforming our energy systems to
create a more secure and sustainable future." More specifically, the
Dialogue is to monitor implementation of the Gleneagles plan of action and
"share best practice between participating governments," with a report due
at the 2008 G8 Summit hosted by Japan.
The leaders also reaffirmed their commitment to the UN Framework
Convention on Climate Change and its ultimate objective of stabilizing
atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases at levels that avoid
dangerous human interference with the climate system. They agreed to "move
forward...the global discussion on long-term co-operative action to
address climate change" at the UN Climate Change Conference later this
year in Montreal.
The leaders of Brazil, China, India, Mexico and South Africa also
participated in the Summit. In a joint declaration, they called for
stronger efforts by developed countries to reduce emissions and to provide
financial and technical assistance to developing countries.
The plan of action adopted by the G8 leaders identifies a range of
activities to promote research, information exchange, and cooperation on
energy efficiency, renewable and other clean energy sources, adaptation to
climate change, and illegal logging. The action plan sets no specific
targets and commits no new funding.
Elements include:
- Reviewing building codes, appliance standards, and vehicle standards to
identify best practices and opportunities for coordination;
Extending the use of labeling on vehicles and appliances to raise consumer
awareness of energy consumption;
- Encouraging multilateral development banks to expand the use of
voluntary energy savings assessments of proposed investments in
energy-intensive sectors; explore opportunities to increase investments in
renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies; and work with
borrower countries to identify less greenhouse gas-intensive growth
options.
- Inviting the World Bank to develop and implement "best practice"
guidelines to assess and manage climate risks associated with new
investments in climate-sensitive sectors;
- Adopting, where appropriate, market-based policy frameworks to finance
the transition to cleaner energy; and
- Promoting dialogue on potential policy approaches such as long-term
sectoral, national or international policy frameworks; market-based
instruments for the development and deployment of technologies; and the
trading of credits for greenhouse gas reductions.
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