Tony Durham, Senior media officer (emergencies)

In a week of pre-G8 Berlusconi-bashing, ActionAid has been relatively restrained.

Joanne Greene of the Catholic aid agency CAFOD was less willing to give the Italian prime minister a last chance. Silvio Berlusconi has failed to keep his aid promises, she argued, and should not be leading the G8. 

Guardian columnist Madeleine Bunting yesterday hit out at Italy's 'lamentable performance' on aid and (a point which may have stung the otherwise impervious Berlusconi) questioned whether Italy should even be a member of the G8.

Are there no heroes left? Well, there is always Sweden's environment minister Andreas Carlgren. As Sweden took on the presidency of the European Union for the second half of the year, Carlgren won the praise of ActionAid and other NGOs for his determination to lead Europe in working for an ambitious international climate treaty in Copenhagen in December.

Even more impressive, Fredrik Reinfeldt, the Swedish Prime Minister, said that his country would present its own example of 50 per cent economic growth since 1990 combined with a 10 per cent cut in CO2 emissions, to try to win over sceptics. This was reported by David Charter of The Times.

The full and depressing picture of European aid in a time of recession can be found in a report'No Time to Waste published in May by the Concord group of aid agencies. Greece, Portugal and Italy spend the lowest proportion of their national income on international aid. Who is top? Oh, come on. Do you really have to ask? Sweden, of course.