G8 policy briefing

Group of Eight nations communiqué 2007
on 33rd G8 meeting in Heiligendamm, Germany, 6 to 8 June 2007

Summary

2005 G8 aid target may be missed
spin rather than substance on HIV and AIDS means shortfall on delivery for universal access to treatment
ignores legal, political and economic obstacles faced by African women
climate change progress is too slow: not commensurate with the urgent threat it poses to poor
biodiversity agreement does not address company control and ownership of seeds that excludes poor farmers
missed opportunity for G8 countries to introduce legislation in their own countries that would stop the import of illegal logged wood

Africa

Aid

In 2005, G8 leaders made a commitment to double aid to developing countries by 2010 and for half of that increase, $25bn, to go to Africa.

However, recent OECD figures show that in 2006 aid decreased and that Germany, France and Italy are off track in meeting their targets. If current trends continue, Britain too will not meet the target it persuaded other G8 countries to agree.

Progressio is concerned that G8 leaders are reneging on their aid promise: they did not reaffirm their commitments to the aid target or agree to set binding timetables on how they plan to reach it.

There is also a need for aid to respond to actual needs on the ground rather than being based on donor perspectives. Whilst the G8 acknowledges the importance of developing countries driving aid priorities, too often this means the priorities of the governments of the developing countries rather than the priorities of poor people. Aid must prioritise the needs of people who are poor, and improve their lives. Rich countries must support governments of developing countries to become more responsive to the expressed needs of the poorest, particularly women, to ensure that aid and public spending reaches those people.

Women's involvement in decision-making and economic opportunities

Progressio is disappointed that despite Chancellor Angela Merkel's good intentions to give gender a high priority, women have not been given the attention they deserve. While the G8 mentions the need for gender sensitive programmes in health and education, it fails to mention the need to address the political, legal and economic obstacles women face in Africa despite encouraging commitments made by African governments in this area.

African leaders have agreed a Protocol on the Rights of Women to the African Charter of Human and Peoples' Rights as well as the 2003 Solemn Declaration on Gender Equality in Africa (SDGEA). The Protocol committed African leaders to a bill of rights for women, and also obliged states to allocate resources to ensure that these rights became a reality. The 2003 Declaration included a commitment to report annually to the African Commission on progress towards gender equality.

The communiqué makes a brief allusion to the World Bank Gender Action Plan on improving women's economic opportunities, but no specific commitments are made.

The G8 do make some tentative commitments to follow up recommendations made in May 2007 by an Africa Partnership Forum meeting in Berlin on gender and economic empowerment (in the Africa Progress Report). It is vital that the G8 follow this up with timetables and specified goals to assist African partners on gender sensitive budgeting.

If the G8 increases aid but does not explicitly give African governments financial and technical support to address the problems that women face- such as access and title to land (so they can develop agricultural resources), the gap between customary and statutory law which works against them, and the access of women to production and trade, then poverty in Africa will not be overcome.

HIV and AIDS

Progressio is disturbed that the G8 have not made more concrete commitments to universal access to HIV and AIDS treatment by 2010. The G8 have presented the new figure of $60 billion as new money, whereas actually only a small proportion - about $3 billion - is additional to existing promises. The G8 have also not acknowledged the new figures released by UNAIDS that estimate there are now 11 million people needing treatment, 6 million more than previously thought, and that $23 billion will be required each year until 2010. We predict a massive shortfall in the funds required and more lives lost unnecessarily.

Progressio is pleased to see the recognition of the G8 of the feminisation of HIV and AIDS and its commitment to increase spending on treatment, care and support services, but is concerned that this increase will not go far enough.

We welcome the G8 countries' promise to make long-term, predictable commitments to fully finance the Global Fund on HIV and AIDS, Malaria and TB at the replenishment conference in September. This commitment is crucial to the delivery of universal access. It would show genuine intent on the part of donors to honour their commitments, and would provide greater incentives for countries to develop ambitious national targets. G8 countries now need to set dates for the release of their funds as developing countries need to know how and when this money will be made available in order to begin implementing these plans in full.

Climate change and the environment

Climate change

While the shift made by the US on climate change has allowed the G8 to seriously consider 'at least halving global emissions by 2050' and to commit to a post-2012 Kyoto framework within a UN-led process, the current pace of change represents a gentle walk in the park rather than the serious sprint needed.

The change in pace is nowhere near sufficient to prevent the urgent threat climate change poses to the world's poor. Poor communities are especially vulnerable to climate change because they tend to live on marginal land, and can be more dependent on climate-sensitive resources such as local water and food supplies. Where extreme weather events become more intense, the economic costs of those events will increase, and these increases are likely to be substantial in the areas most directly affected.

Although the G8 recognise the importance of cutting global emissions, we are astonished that the G8, having recognised this, have not set any targets to cut such emissions. If emissions continue to grow at current rates we will see a rise in temperature of between 2-3oC in the next 50 years. Scientists estimate that if the earth warms by more than 2 degrees or more the impact on food security, water resources and ecosystems will be catastrophic, with poor people suffering the most (1) .

Climate change is already happening and poor people are already experiencing the effects. Although rich countries have caused climate change we are very disappointed that the G8 is not offering any new money to help developing countries adapt to it. It is unjust that those who have caused climate change are avoiding their responsibilities. There is not even sufficient recognition that climate change threatens the lives of the poorest. Instead, in the summary document reference is only made to the threats to the environment and global economy. It is a matter of justice, not charity, that rich countries need to support developing countries to adapt to climate change by finding sources of finance that are additional and separate to aid.

Biodiversity

Progressio welcomes the G8's commitment to the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity and the agreed Potsdam Initiative-Biological Diversity 2010 to achieve the goal of significantly reducing the rate of loss of biological diversity by 2010.

We support the G8's commitment to raise awareness among developing countries of the urgency to mainstream policies addressing the conservation of biodiversity in their development plans and we agree that with the G8's statement that biodiversity conservation must feature in global trade and economic policies.

Yet we are concerned that the G8's focus on the global and economic aspects of biodiversity conservation does not address issues about poor people's access to that biodiversity and the local economic and social impacts that that will have on rural and indigenous communities in the developing world.

Given that 1.4 billion farmers in the developing world depend on agriculture for their food security, the conservation of seed biodiversity is essential to sustain their livelihoods. Poor farmers depend on these resources for their food security and to make a living, for example by saving and exchanging a variety of seeds, and poor farmers have played a key role in the conservation of this biodiversity: they possess an immense knowledge of plant breeding which provides the genetic base for local and commercial seeds.

The food security of rural communities and the diversity of these indigenous food systems is being threatened by the increasing control that multinationals have on global food markets. Today, only 10 corporations control more than 30per cent of global seed sales; eight of these corporations have their headquarters in G8 countries.

While we understand the importance of investigating the economic implications of any further loss of biodiversity, we believe that this should not delay the urgent need for concrete courses of action. These actions should reinstate the rights of poor farmers and indigenous communities into the global biodiversity conservation agenda. A genuine commitment to the conservation of biodiversity and the eradication of poverty cannot ignore the need to address corporate control of food production.

Progressio believes that preserving Earth's biodiversity is closely associated with the protection of traditional communities and ways of life and that this consideration should form an integral part of any global commitment for the conservation of biodiversity.

Illegal logging

We welcome the 'determination' of the most powerful nations of the world to address the problem of illegal logging and its impact on the livelihoods of the poorest people. However, we believe that the G8 should take concrete steps to reduce the trade in illegally logged wood by cutting off demand from their own countries. G8 countries should have committed to implementing national legally-binding and non-discretional legislation in their own countries prohibiting the entry and purchase of uncertified and illegally obtained wood.

Illegal logging undermines poor people's livelihoods, and represents a threat not only to the survival of the flora and fauna but also to other natural resources like water. It also loses governments billions in lost revenue, promotes corruption and undermines good governance and the rule of law. The G8 should have committed to concerted efforts to support developing countries to develop and enforce legislation that outlaws illegal logging. The G8 should also take further steps to support developing nations to improve governance and transparency in the area of sustainable forestry management.

(1) Once temperature increase rises above 2°C, up to 4 billion people could be experiencing growing water shortages. Agriculture could cease to be viable in parts of the world, particularly in the tropics, and millions more people will be at risk of hunger. This rise in temperature could see 40-60 million more people exposed to malaria in Africa. The warmer the temperature, the faster the Greenland ice sheet will melt, accelerating sea-level rise. Above 2°C, the risk of a disintegration of the West Antarctic ice sheet rises significantly, as does the greater danger of 'tipping points' for soil carbon release and the collapse of the Amazon rainforest." Tearfund et al (2007) 'Two degrees, one chance '

Progressio's advocacy team, 12 June 2007
For more details please contact: joanne@progressio.org.uk