G8 could see deal on emissions' cuts

They could well cobble together some agreement on goals to cut greenhouse gas emissions, but bolder progress in climate change talks will probably have to wait until a new US President takes office, notes an Engineering News report. Climate change is the focus of an expanded Major Economies Meeting on 9 July that brings the G8 together with eight other countries, including China, India and Brazil. Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda wants to boost momentum for UN-led talks on a new framework beyond limits agreed under the Kyoto Protocol, which expire in 2012. G8 leaders agreed last year in Germany to consider seriously a global goal of halving greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Climate campaigners say this year's summit should go further by endorsing that goal, compared to 1990 emissions levels, and linking it to bold and specific mid-term targets for developed countries. 'The G8 countries could certainly take a leadership stand and agree to that (a long-term goal), but I think that really depends on whether (George W) Bush is ready to take that leap or not,' said Jennifer Morgan, Director for Climate and Energy Security at Berlin-based think tank E3G. 'Up to this point, the US has shown no flexibility on this point.' Full Engineering News report

Bush says he is prepared to be 'constructive' in discussions on climate change, although he insists that any agreement is contingent on the participation of China and India, reports the Financial Times. China and India, both part of meetings at which climate change will be discussed, have argued that they cannot be expected to cut emissions before they have industrialised. Experts say significant agreement is unlikely, largely because the deadline for a post-Kyoto deal is still 18 months away. Marthinus van Schalkwyk, SA's Environment Minister, described a pledge to cut emissions in half by 2050 as an 'empty slogan'. Many experts are pressing for rich nations to commit to cutting carbon emissions by 25-40% by 2020. Full Financial Times report

Japan is facing serious risk from climate change, and its Prime Minister should push world leaders to reduce global emissions within 15 years, the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) says in a new report. According to Earthtimes, the WWF's report, Nippon Changes, says the average temperature has risen by one degree in Japan over the past century and extreme weather such as heavy rain has been observed. Along with the report, the group launched a climate witness programme, which provides a forum for the public to share their observations of a changing climate and how it affects their livelihoods and businesses. Full Earthtimes report Nippon Changes report

The Indian Government has pledged to devote more attention to renewable energy, water conservation and preserving natural resources in the country's first climate change plan, but it did not set concrete goals or pledge to cap harmful emissions. A report in The New York Times notes that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh says India will pursue eight national 'missions' for sustainable development. They are: pursuing solar energy, urging energy efficiency, creating a sustainable habitat, conserving water, preserving the Himalayan ecosystem, creating a 'green' India, creating sustainable agriculture and, finally, establishing what he calls a 'strategic knowledge platform for climate change'. How much the Indian Government will spend on these goals, who will run the efforts and how they will be evaluated was unclear. India is represented at the meeting of the Group of 8 in Hokkaido. Full report in The New York Times

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has urged developing countries to join rich nations in setting targets to reduce emissions. A report on The Citizen site notes that although Da Silva did not specify Brazil's own goal, he said the world should be able to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 60-80% from current levels by 2050. Full report on The Citizen site

Severe adverse effects from climate change can be avoided at reasonable cost, but only if politicians stop talking and start acting, a major report from PricewaterhouseCoopers says. Updating a study it conducted two years ago, it calls on G8 leaders, particularly the US, to commit themselves to firm timetables for emissions reductions at the summit, says The Guardian. It now estimates the cost of a 50% reduction in global carbon emissions by 2050 at around 3% of global economic growth, at the top of the 2-3% range it estimated in 2006. 'This is broadly equivalent to sacrificing around a year of global GDP growth between now and 2050,' says John Hawksworth, head of macroeconomics at PwC. Full report in The Guardian PwC Report

Biofuels have forced global food prices up by 75% - far more than previously estimated. So says a new World Bank report that casts biofuels in a negative light at a critical point in the world's negotiations on biofuels policy, reports The Guardian. The G8 meeting will face intense lobbying from campaigners calling for a moratorium on the use of plant-derived fuels, as a response to the global food crisis. The damning assessment is based on the most detailed analysis of the crisis so far, carried out by an internationally-respected economist. The figure emphatically contradicts the US Government's claims that plant-derived fuels contribute less than 3% to food-price rises. It will add to pressure on governments in Washington and across Europe, which have turned to plant-derived fuels to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases and reduce their dependence on imported oil. Senior development sources believe the report, completed in April, has not been published to avoid embarrassing President George W Bush, who has been a keen advocate of biofuels. Full report in The Guardian World Bank report

But EU energy Ministers appear to have got their biofuels' obligations wrong. They said at an informal meeting before the summit began that they had been labouring for 18 months under the false impression that an EU plan to fight global warming included an obligation to develop controversial biofuels, notes a report on the Mail & Guardian Online site. What seems to be a stunning misreading on the part of policymakers in Brussels comes at a time when the image of biofuels has shifted over a matter of months from climate saviour to climate pariah. Documents issued by the EU describing its ambitious energy and climate plan, unveiled in January 2007, have consistently said that 10% of all the fuel powering vehicles will come from plants by 2020. A closer reading of the texts by the Ministers apparently revealed otherwise. 'The member states realised that the commission's plan specifies that 10% of transport needs must come from renewable energy, not 10% from biofuels,' Jean-Louis Borloo, the French Environment and Energy Minister, said at the close of the three-day gathering. Jurgen Homann, the junior Economy and Energy Minister from Germany, also confirmed the misconception. The ministers 'discovered' that requirements for transport 'do not speak of biofuels, but renewables', he said. Full report on Mail & Guardian Online site

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the G8 group will take measures to fight the soaring price of food. 'A vast catalogue of measures to guarantee food supplies worldwide' is expected to be adopted at the summit, Merkel said. According to a report on the Business Report site, the measures, based on a German Government concept, are intended 'to provide short term relief to the food crisis and a long-term strategy to increase the world agricultural production', Merkel said. The G8 powers also plan to create a task force on the food crisis during the summit. The working group will look into the possibility of lifting certain restrictions on exports which prevent the countries most in need from having access to the surplus food of rich nations. Full report on Business Report site

Speaking at the summit, Van Schalkwyk said climate change could cut SA's maize crop by 20% within 15 to 20 years as the west of the country dried out while the east was afflicted with increasingly severe storms, notes a report on the IoL site. As its western regions dry out, SA will have to turn to more drought-resistant strains of maize, or corn, giving a greater role to genetically modified (GM) strains, he said. GM corn is already legal in SA. SA consumes about 8m tons a year of corn. It produced 7.125m tons in the 2007 harvest, but this year's harvest topped 11m tons following better rains. Van Schalkwyk called for an international framework to set policy on biofuels, which by diverting excess grain supply helped push corn futures in the US to an all-time high last month. Full report on the IoL site