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G-8
Summit Opens
with Spotlight on
Aid for Africa
 (AP) - Aid for Africa — and
whether enough was coming from the world's major economic powers
— was in the spotlight Monday as the Group of Eight nations
met with seven African leaders at its annual summit. Activists have
accused some G-8 countries, particularly France, Canada and Italy, of
skimping on aid to Africa, and urged them to ramp up their
contributions. The U.S., Japan, Britain, Germany and Russia make up the
other members of the G-8.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel also has urged G-8 leaders to take a
tough stance on Zimbabwe in the wake of President Robert Mugabe's
widely denounced election win. Mugabe was the only candidate in the
presidential runoff after his opponent dropped out amid reports of
state-sponsored violence.
President Bush, arriving Sunday for his eighth and final Group of Eight
summit, emphasized the urgency of providing aid for Africa, calling on
wealthy nations to provide mosquito nets and other aid to prevent
children from "needlessly dying from mosquito bites."
"Now is the time for the comfortable nations to step up and do something about it," Bush said.
African aid was the centerpiece of the G-8 summit three years ago in
Gleneagles, Scotland, where leaders pledged to increase foreign aid by
$50 billion a year by 2010 — with half of that going directly to
Africa — and to cancel the debt of the most heavily indebted poor
nations.
Collectively, the G-8 has delivered just $3 billion of the $25 billion
in additional aid pledged to Africa in 2005, according to DATA, which
stands for Debt, AIDS and Trade in Africa, a group founded by U2 singer
Bono and music producer Bob Geldof, both of whom are active in
campaigns for Africa.
Germany, the U.S. and Britain were following through on commitments,
while progress from Japan, France, Italy and Canada was either unclear
or weak, DATA said.
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development reported in
April that foreign aid by major donor countries slumped in 2007 as
debt-relief plans tapered off and amid a global economic downturn in
Japan and some other rich nations.
Japan said there has been no backtracking on the commitments made to Africa.
"I don't understand the criticism," said Japanese Foreign Ministry
spokesman Kazuo Kodama. "The G-8 leaders are very aware of the
commitments they have made to African leaders."
Soaring food prices was another key topic on the agenda at the summit,
with some experts predicting that the leaders would announce a food aid
package and possibly funds to invest in agricultural development in
poorer nations.
European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso proposed Monday
spending $1.6 billion that had been set aside for European farm
subsidies to support agriculture in the developing world over the next
two years.
Talks were expected to shift Tuesday and Wednesday to climate change as
leaders will try to move forward U.N.-led talks aimed at forging a new
global warming accord by the end of 2009. The negotiations have stalled
because of deep disagreements over what targets to set for greenhouse
gas reductions, and how much developing countries such as China and
India should be required to participate.
The rift over climate change widened as the head of the European
Commission urged leaders of the world's wealthy nations to act first in
setting targets for reducing greenhouse gases — putting President
Bush in an increasingly lonely position.
European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said the G-8 nations
must reach agreement among themselves on climate change measures and
avoid taking the approach that "I will do nothing unless you do it
first," which he called a "vicious circle."
"If we agree, then we are in a much better position to discuss with our Chinese and Indian partners and others," Barroso said.
The U.N. and World Bank chiefs said top industrialized nations need to
push forward global talks on climate change and demonstrate their
commitment to help poorer nations grapple with rising food prices.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and World Bank President Robert
Zoellick said rich nations need to strengthen their efforts to meet
poverty reduction, education and other development goals because of
instability in the world economy.
China and India say it is up to the developed world — the biggest
polluters — to take the lead in the fight against climate change.
Bush says no, developing nations must also sign on to make any global
deal work.
It was unclear whether nations would be able to agree to a goal of
cutting their emissions by 50 percent by 2050. The Bush administration
has not shown any enthusiasm for such a commitment without cooperation
from the Chinese and Indians.
A more ambitious goal of setting nearer-term targets for 2020 was considered well beyond reach.
Going into a G-8 summit — after a separate summit Tuesday with
India, Brazil, South Africa and Mexico — China has said it is
ready to discuss setting medium- and long-term goals for reducing
emissions of polluting gases and is open to negotiating targets.
But Beijing has not changed its view that the main responsibility still
lies with developed countries. India has vowed to keep its emissions
below those of developed countries, but is also looking for them to set
the pace.
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