G8 passes the buck on climate change

Today's G8 summit statement on environment and climate change was immediately criticised by ActionAid as a buck-passing exercise by the countries which are overwhelmingly responsible for most of the human-induced climate change that has occurred so far.

ActionAid policy officer Tom Sharman said:
"The G8 are blatantly dodging their responsibilities. When they say that things should be done by the major economies, they are passing the buck to China and India. They are not accepting that climate change is overwhelmingly a problem that they themselves have caused."

ActionAid also pointed out that though last year's Bali UNFCCC conference signalled a mid-term goal of 25-40% emission cuts for rich countries, there is no such goal in the G8 document.

On biofuels Tom Sharman commented:
"There is no recognition of the harm that biofuel development has already done, and biofuel projects are to be judged purely on scientific grounds. What about the social and economic impact of a technology that has already brought 260 million people to the edge of hunger?"