G8 pledges to support UN climate talks[fr][de] 

The G8 summit of the world's leading industrialised nations has agreed with regards climate change to "consider seriously the decisions made by the European Union, Canada and Japan which include at least a halving of global [CO2] emissions by 2050". 

"We commit to achieving these goals and invite the major emerging economies [in particular China and India] to join us in this endeavour," states the Summit Declaration  of 7 June 2007. The agreement is not legally binding.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that this commitment was "the most important decision for the coming years". US President George Bush, who has refused to ratify the Kyoto Protocol, said: "I recommitted myself today, that the United States will be actively involved, if not taking the lead, in a post-Kyoto framework, post-Kyoto agreement. I view our role as a bridge between people in Europe and others and India and China." 

The eight countries have agreed to start climate-change negotiations, under United Nations auspices, at the UN Climate Change Conference in Bali in December 2007. The aim is to get an agreement adopted by 2009.

Environmental NGOs immediately criticised the G8 summit -deal as being "weak" and "lacking substance and political will". Friends of the Earth deplores that the US and Russia did not make a non-binding pledge to cut the CO2 emission by at least half by 2050. "Collectively, the G8 nations, which represent just 13% of the world's population, are responsible for around 43% of the world's greenhouse-gas emissions," the NGO points out. 

The World Future Council said that it would have liked to see "an immediate binding resolution" and accused the G8 countries of "simply passing the buck on to the next Conference on Climate Change in Bali later this year".