Global anti-poverty campaigners say G8 come out shaky on climate, food, development and Africa

REACTION FROM: INDONESIA, PHILIPPINES, CANADA, BENIN, UGANDA, SOUTH AFRICA AND JAPAN

Members of the Global Call to Action Against Poverty (GCAP) alliance from Northern and Southern coalitions at the Japanese G8 Summit this week have reacted to the final communiqués on food security, climate change, development & Africa, with a mix of disappointment and frustration.

Japan 2008-07-07

Food Security Communiqué

While GCAP welcomes the $10billion pledged by the G8 since January 2008 towards the global food price crisis, it is still a knee-jerk response that doesn't address the long-term structural causes.

“The G8 promotion of the ‘development of open and efficient agricultural and food markets’ has denied poor people the chance to feed themselves today. It treats food as a mere commodity,” said Joseph Ssuuna, PELUM Association, Uganda.

“The G8 also seem to be pressing for a quick-fix trade negotiations which we believe would be devastating - no deal is better than a bad deal,” said Charles Abani of GCAP Africa.

“Tragically, market-driven development, one of the principal causes of the present food crisis, appears to be the solution offered by the present G8 leaders. This is appalling,” said Dian Kartika, GCAP Indonesia in Hokkaido today.

“The rhetorical commitments on the MDGs as expressed in this communiqué are shown hollow when the G8 has not been able to come up with a solution to MDG1- dealing with hunger.” said Kumi Naidoo, Co-chair, GCAP.

“We were desperate to see an end to market speculation from the G8 but there is nothing in there,” said Ana Maria Nemenzo, GCAP Philippines.

Environment and Climate Change

The G8 committed to take strong leadership in tackling climate change but in fact there is nothing new in the communiqué to show that they mean it. There are no new resources for climate change adaptation and their pledge to cut emissions by half by 2050 is not credible.

“There is no urgency in the 2050 emissions target. We wanted a clear baseline for this and a 2020 target, not a deadline that's set for when these leaders will be consigned to history,” said Chona Ramos from GCAP South East Asia.

“The G8 insistence on passing the climate investment funds solution is worse the than problem. The institution, the World Bank, which has been mainly responsible for destroying the climate, cannot be charged with managing the fund. It’s like cleaning the floor with a dirty cloth,” said Nur Amalia, GCAP Indonesia.

“The G8 want a sectoral approach but it’s doomed because it doesn't acknowledge the effect on women and marginalised groups. It won’t have a positive impact on the lives of poor people,” said Gustave Assah, Civic Commission for Africa, Benin.

Development and Africa Communiqué

GCAP welcomes the G8’s recognition of the MDG achievements and limitations. The commitment to review these Goals at the High Level event in New York in September is noteworthy. There are however some concerns on the loose language used in expressing any commitments, especially on education, water and health, which campaigners are pointing out tonight;

“The journey to school for the world’s poorest people has been set in slow motion. Whilst we welcome the pledge of $1 billion to education, its less than 10% of what they ought to pay for everyone to have a quality education,” said Alex Kent, Global Campaign for Education.

“Hopes for a breakthrough in the global sanitation and water crisis were dashed as the G8 delivered a communiqué largely devoid of concrete actions to help the 2.6 billion lacking access to a safe toilet and 1.1.billion people lacking access to clean water,” said Steve Cockburn, End Water Poverty.

“The reiteration of past commitments to developing countries ($50 billion) are welcome but the G8 continues to use deliberately loose language that ties them to no binding commitments,” said Joseph Ssuuna, PELUM Association, Uganda.

“Most disturbing is that the new timeframe for delivering the $60 billion on health has stretched to 5 years, meaning the net worth is reduced significantly,” said Dennis Howlett, Make Poverty History Canada.

Conclusions

“This G8 communiqué is a statement of aspirations and wishful thinking more than any concrete commitment being put on the table at this crucial mid-point in the MDGs – it’s not acceptable when many parts of Africa and Asia are lagging so far behind,” said Dennis Howlett, Make Poverty History Canada.

“One of the problems with the G8 is that all the decisions are taken by consensus, so the final communiqués end up being the least common denominator position. The worst positions on each issue are the ones that end up being adopted,” concluded Kumi Naidoo, Chair, GCAP.

“In our view the G8 fails dismally to provide the global leadership the word is expecting from them. In light of the scale of global challenges we face right now, it’s a real shame,” concluded Toko Tomita, TICAD IV NGO Network and Hunger Free World.

For further information or to book an interview with a global campaigner contact:
Ciara O’Sullivan, GCAP Media Coordinator, 090 65481638
Toko Tomita, TICAD IV NGO Network and Hunger Free World, 090 5217 6448

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