“There have been promises of further talks on climate change but progress is way too slow, although there has been recognition of the need to tackle the issue at the UN level,” said Collins Magalasi, ActionAid’s director of South Africa.

“There is no mention of limiting global warming to 2 degrees Celsius. What we have is a tentative acknowledgement of the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by 2050. In many developing countries, that is further off than the average life expectancy,” he added.

“The world can’t wait that long. We need much closer targets, preferably annual targets because each year’s emissions add to the problem.”

ActionAid said that G8 countries had a responsibility for dealing with a problem that has been largely caused by rich countries’ carbon emissions.

On energy efficiency in the G8 economies, the communiqué does not include any reference to a 20% increase by 2020, included in the previous drafts at this summit.

“The science says we have to act fast, the economics says the world can easily afford it, and justice says the G8 countries should foot most of the bill. What we heard from the G8 today could be the beginning of an effective international response to the problem of climate change. But it could equally well be an excuse for years of delay that the world cannot afford.”

Contact: Sarah Gillam +44 7738 884014
Alexandre Polack +49 1 577 4709381
John Coventry (UK) +44 7734 581 738
Eleonora Tantaro (Italy) +39 39 3907 3595