Discussie op G8 over klimaatmaatregelen voor industriële grootmachten (en)

The numbers at the G8 summit in L’Aquila have increased during the day on Thursday, and the discussions continue on global issues, development policy and sustainable development. During Thursday evening, the leaders of the G8 countries meet the MEF countries, who together are responsible for 80 per cent of global emissions, with the climate issue on the agenda.

On Wednesday, the G8 countries came to an agreement on the ‘two-degree target’ (see article via link on the right), but now the discussions continue in the larger group of countries that make up the MEF (Major Economies Forum).

“The two-degree target is included in the draft conclusions for the MEF meeting as well, and I consider it very important that it also remains there after the meeting. For the G8 to sign up to the two-degree target is an enormous step forward, and if in fact the whole of the Major Economies Forum also does the same, then 80 per cent of the world’s emissions will be represented. This would be a great achievement. But at the same time, it must be remembered that it has not been possible to get medium-term targets into the text, such as emissions reductions up to the year 2020, but we have to take each achievement for what it is”, says Sweden’s Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt on his way into the meeting.

Footnote: The MEF is made up of the EU and 16 countries that are all large economies. These are: Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, South Africa, South Korea, the United Kingdom and the United States. Participating in today’s meeting were also the UN and Denmark, in its role as host for the UN Climate Change Conference in December.