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For this year’s summit, the G8 has invited China, India, Brazil, Indonesia, South Africa, Mexico, Australia and South Korea to its “outreach” session on climate change.

Apart from the G8’s inability to come up with anything on global warming, some world leaders have questioned the value of the summit’s current framework.

During a meeting with Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda on June 3, French President Nicolas Sarkozy vehemently argued that the G8 forum should be expanded to include such countries as China and India, according to Japanese diplomats.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown also appears to be positive about expanding the group, although he has not explicitly discussed it, they said.

Fukuda strongly disagrees, saying the G8 should remain a forum for a small number of states bearing a large responsibility for the international community.

Tokyo fears expanding the meeting would diminish Japan’s clout on the world stage.

“Japan, Germany and Italy are reluctant about expansion. They do not want to weaken the power of the G8 to send out political messages,” said a senior Foreign Ministry in charge of European affairs.

“President Sarkozy is of the opinion that the G8 was originally started as a forum for economic discussions, and talking about economic issues without the participation of the BRICs (Brazil, Russia, India and China) is meaningless. He believes noneconomic issues should be discussed at the U.N. Security Council,” the official said.

But Japan, Germany and Italy are not permanent members of the Security Council and attach greater political value to the G8 forum, the official said.

Another senior Foreign Ministry official argued that expanding the G8 membership would only increase political taboos that member states can’t touch on during the closed-door summit.

For example, adding China would make it impossible to discuss human rights issues and world currency issues related to the yuan, the official said.

Despite speculation that the G8 leaders may discuss the expansion issue in Hokkaido, Japanese officials insist it will not be a formal topic.

“I guarantee that will never be on the formal agenda,” Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura said Tuesday. “None of (the foreign ministers) of the G8 has discussed the issue yet.

At least Japan has not said it wants to expand the G8.”

—–

Really, if they want relevancy, why not create first the United European Group of States Federation or whatever they want to call it, so little States like Italy are not allowed to interfere with the work of the big ones. So - EU, US, Russia, China, India, Japan, Brazil are a good start for a relevant compact G7. Candidates-in-waiting or whatever you want to call it are then - Australia, South Africa, Canada, Indonesia, Korea. 

OK, not to have another upset State - probably the inclusion of Canada could give us the new starting G8.

In any case, it seems that unless Japan gets a seat on the UN Security Council, the G8 will continue to show its irrelevancy for all to see. 

From:    jeh1 at columbia.edu
Subject: Dear Prime Minister Fukuda
Letter sent to Prime Minister Fukuda before the G8 meeting is at http://www.columbia.edu/~jeh1/mailings/2…

makes some very interesting points about relative parts of coal, oil, and gas in 2007 emissions and their historic part in the present composition of the air, and the various sources of these emissions.

He makes suggestions and asks for Fukuda’s leadership. Please open the above link in order to read Jim Hansen’s intervention to the G8.

G-8 climate scorecard shows US in last. The U.S. has done the least among the world’s eight largest economies to address global warming, a study released Thursday found.
By PATRICK McGROARTY, BERLIN (AP) — The U.S. has done the least among the world’s eight largest economies to address global warming, a study released Thursday found.
The G-8 Climate Scorecards 2008, released Thursday ahead of next week’s gathering of the Group of Eight on the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido, also found that none of the eight countries are making improvements large enough to prevent temperature increases that scientists think would cause catastrophic climate changes. The gathering includes the heads of states of the U.S., Japan, Britain, Germany, France, Italy, Canada and Russia.
Regine Guenther, director of the World Wildlife Fund Climate Change Program in Germany, told reporters in the German capital that G-8 leaders should commit to reducing emissions in their countries 40 percent by 2020 and 80 percent by 2050. “If we don’t achieve that, the world’s climate will change in ways that we can’t even imagine today,” Guenther said.

The scorecard ranked Britain as the developed nation that has done the most to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and reach targets set by the Kyoto Protocol. France and Germany are close behind. Germany was praised for its investment in renewable energy.
“But all three countries are at best half as far along the road as they should be,” a statement announcing the study said.
The scorecard was compiled by Ecofys, a Dutch consulting company, and commissioned by the World Wildlife Fund and insurer Allianz SE.

Joachim Faber, an Allianz board member who helped compile the scorecards, said a global emissions trading market is important to fighting climate change, and that the EU should lead its development.
“The EU-specific trading system we have at the moment must serve as model system for one that we can found outside the EU, for the world economy,” he said.

The study criticized low energy efficiency in the U.S., but said there was hope in legislation under consideration by Congress and initiatives led by non-governmental groups.

The study also analyzed — but did not rank — five of the world’s fastest growing economies: Brazil, China, India, Mexico and South Africa. “These countries cannot be measured with the same ruler as industrialized countries,” the statement said.

Bush Makes Final Push for Global Climate Deal.
By Michael Abramowitz and Blaine Harden, WashPost, July 3, 2008.

“In his final months in office, President Bush is mounting a last-ditch effort to forge a new global deal to limit greenhouse-gas emissions but finds himself once again at odds with much of the rest of the world on how to address climate change. Bush aides said a deal might be struck when the president sits down next week in Japan with the leaders of the world’s largest industrialized nations and developing countries such as China and India. Japan is pushing for leaders at the Group of Eight summit to agree to a goal of cutting global carbon dioxide emissions in half by 2050, a proposal that the White House appears to be considering seriously. The Bush administration is also conducting negotiations with countries on including more-specific targets for each to meet by 2020 or 2025. Germany is pushing for more-significant cuts in emissions than the United States and some other countries are willing to consider, while China and India want the United States and other industrialized countries to do most of the heavy lifting for the next 10 to 15 years. Previewing his G-8 agenda yesterday in the Rose Garden, Bush emphasized the necessity of including the developing countries in any agreement struck by his administration… Environmentalists contend that Bush’s moves on global warming are too little, too late. They say even an agreement on a long-term goal would be meaningless because it would likely not bind the United States to making actual reductions. In many ways, they said, G-8 nations have begun to shift their focus to presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama, both of whom have indicated a willingness to consider steeper reductions than Bush — the kind of cuts the White House regards as unrealistic… Anything that the leaders agree to next week would have to be worked into a treaty that the United Nations hopes to conclude by the end of 2009 in Copenhagen.” 

If Africa Will Agree To Stop Shooting at Itself, and if the Donor Countries Can Agree To Do Something Positive in the Follo-up To A World-Agreement on a new Climate Change agreement, Africa Should be Indeed a Major Part of a Carbon Trading Mechanism.

In Anticipation of the Above, Some Tough Minded People Want To Try To Have Propsals On The Table For Real Plans Of Action. We Wish Them, And Ourselves - the Best of Luck.

Subject: Solicitation of African Carbon Offset Projects & Travel Sponsorship Opportunity
Reply-To: “Lars Rosendahl Appelquist” <lars.rosendahl@risoe.dk>

July 2, 2008

At COP‐13 in Bali, the UNFCCC Secretariat announced its intent to convene the first Africa Carbon Forum, in partnership with the International Emissions Trading Association (IETA) and the multilateral agencies supporting the Nairobi Framework, including UNEP, UNDP, UNIDO, UNECA, and the World Bank. The Nairobi Framework aims to assist developing countries, especially those in sub‐Saharan Africa, to enhance their participation in the CDM. This groundbreaking high‐profile event will combine a carbon investment trade fair, a policy forum for African DNAs and climate change officials, as well as targeted capacity building for the CDM.

The Forum will take place from 3 ‐ 5 September 2008 at Le Meridien Hotel, Pointe Des Almadies, in Dakar, Senegal.

Further details and a draft agenda can be downloaded from the IETA website: http://www.ieta.org/ieta/www/pages/index…

Despite the fast growth of the global carbon market and the urgent need to boost energy and infrastructure investment in Africa, local actors are only just beginning to tap into this market. The Africa Carbon Forum will strengthen links between CDM project developers and the region’s investment community, and facilitate knowledge sharing and transactions between project sponsors and global carbon offset credit buyers. Specifically, matchmaking and deal facilitation sessions will enable potential CDM project participants and developers to showcase their projects to interested parties, including investors and carbon buyers.

The organizers therefore invite all interested parties to attend and to submit their carbon offset project concepts for consideration.

As co‐organizers of the Forum, UNEP and UNDP have pledged to provide travel sponsorships for CDM project champions from across the African continent to attend the event, based on a competitive selection.

See attached document for additional details on the sponsorship procedures and requirements.

 http://www.ieta.org/ieta/www/pages/index…

————-

BACKGROUND

At COP13 in Bali, the UNFCCC Secretariat announced its intent to convene the 1st Africa Carbon Forum, in collaboration with the International Emissions Trading Association (IETA) and the partner agencies of the Nairobi Framework, including the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), The World Bank and the African Development Bank. The Nairobi Framework was initiated with the specific target of helping developing countries, especially those in sub-Saharan Africa, to improve their level of participation in the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM).

OBJECTIVE

This event will bring together representatives from designated national authorities (DNA), national focal points (NFP), representatives from several UN agencies, governments and the private sector.

The Africa Carbon Forum is a platform that will strengthen links between CDM project developers and the region’s investment community, provide opportunities for DNA representatives to exchange views and share their experiences relating to the CDM, while facilitating knowledge sharing and transactions between project sponsors and global carbon offset credit buyers.

The Forum will take place from 3-5 September 2008 in Dakar, Senegal, at Le Méridien Hotel, located in the Pointe Des Almadies area.
The event will combine a carbon investment Trade Fair, a Conference and policy forum for African DNAs and climate change officials, as well as targeted capacity building on the CDM. Specifically, matchmaking and deal facilitation sessions will enable potential CDM project participants and developers to showcase their projects to interested parties, including investors and carbon buyers.

The complete schedule of this three-day event will be available shortly.

The Africa Carbon Forum provides a platform for companies to Present, Showcase, Meet and Interact. The exhibitor section will be open to the following types of entities:
• Service providers in the carbon market (Designated Operational Entities, Applicant Entities, methodology developers etc);
• Technology providers for new technologies to reduce GHGs (sector-based, technology based, other);
• Solution providers;
• Individual industrial organizations showcasing their solutions and achievements;
• Project developers;
• Funds that will purchase emissions reductions;
• CDM Host country governments and DNAs;
• Bilateral and multilateral aid agencies and foundations; and NGOs

——————-

Also from Denmark:

Based on the unequal geographical distribution of CDM activities where the Least Developed Countries (LDC) are largely under represented and the increasing microfinance activities in these countries, the Executive Board to the CDM launched the idea to explore the possibilities for combining CDM development with microfinance mechanisms. The COP endorsed the concept and the Government of Denmark decided to finance the project.

The purpose of the project is to identify possible synergies between the CDM, especially CDM Programme of Activities (PoA), and microfinance mechanisms. The objective is to enhance CDM activities in LDCs, in particularly sub-Saharan Africa, by exploring ways to improve the financial feasibility of mitigation projects that are pertinent to LDCs.

DANIDA has appointed the Danish consulting engineering company NIRAS A/S to execute the study for which we have engaged the services of the internationally recognised experts Ms. Christiana Figueres and Mr. Hans Jürgen Stehr to enhance our in house capacity.

We would like to report to the EB on the advance of PoAs worldwide. Thus, if you are developing a PoA we would like to know the country(ies), the sector, and the foreseeable CPAs. We are particularly interested in PoAs in LDCs and Africa, but would be happy to receive information on PoAs in other regions.

We will collate the information received and make it available to users of Climate L, as well as include it in the report to the EB. We recognise the sensitivity of particular information during the project development process due to competition issues and will thus make sure that no confidential information is distributed and that the information will be collected without attribution to who is developing the PoA if requested.

Ms. Hanne Holm-Jørgensen

NIRAS
Sortemosevej 2
DK-3450 Alleroed
Denmark

email:  hhj at niras.dk
phone: +45 4810 4766

World Bank Approves Climate Funds Before G8 Summit
Wednesday July 2, 2008.

by: Lesley Wroughton, Reuters

The World Bank agrees to finance the Clean Technology Fund and Strategic Climate Fund as a response to climate change challenges.
Washington - The World Bank on Tuesday agreed to establish two investment funds to help developing economies switch to clean-energy technologies to curb carbon emissions and help poor countries adapt to climate change.
The approval of the Clean Technology Fund and Strategic Climate Fund comes days before a summit of Group of Eight leaders from industrial countries in Hokkaido, Japan, on July 8 where climate change issues are on the agenda.
“The G8 is likely to broadly support the establishment of the climate investment funds,” Warren Evans, director of the World Bank’s environment department, told reporters.
He said the World Bank was counting on an initial $4 billion to $5 billion in donations by G8 nations for the Clean Technology Fund, adding that media reports that $10 billion would be raised for the fund “are on the high side”.
Britain, Japan and the United States have already said they will contribute to the fund, while more countries are likely to climb aboard now that the funds have been approved.

No specific funding or donor commitments have been discussed for the adaptation fund, although Evans said he was confident the World Bank will be able to raise $500 million for programs.
“We would hope the funds are fully operational by the fourth quarter of this year, and that some projects are being approved by the end of the year,” he said.
Evans said he was not overly concerned with the timing of the first contributions because it takes some time to put the projects together.
He said the design of the funds was agreed in negotiations between “a large number of stakeholders” and financing for projects would be decided by a committee made up of eight donor nations and eight developing countries. Decisions would be made by consensus, he added.
“It recognizes the need to scale up rapidly the investments in low-carbon technologies and adaptation to climate change,” Evans said, adding that the investments would be funded through either low-interest loans or grants, or both.
World Bank President Robert Zoellick said the funds are part the Bank’s response to climate change challenges.
“We think the (funds) will have a significant impact in generating even more financing for climate action,” Zoellick said, “but also in demonstrating new approaches to address the current and future effects of climate change.
“These approaches will range from agriculture to water management, from transport to urban development, and from biodiversity to energy access,” he said.
U.S. Treasury Undersecretary for International Affairs David McCormick welcomed the establishment of the funds.
“We have been working closely with the Bank’s leadership, potential donor and recipient countries, as well as the environmental and business communities, to develop a fund that effectively addresses the dual challenges of poverty and climate change,” he added.
Evans said the Bank would ensure that work on the climate investment funds does not interfere or influence current U.N.-led negotiations among developing and developed countries to replace the Kyoto pact on climate change.

United Nations climate experts want the new treaty to go beyond Kyoto by getting all countries to agree to curbs on emissions of greenhouse gases. Under Kyoto, only 37 countries are bound to cut emissions by an average of 5 percent from 1990 levels by 2012.

From: “Brazilian-American Chamber of Commerce, Inc.” <conference@brazilcham.com>
Date: July 2, 2008

Subject: 2008 Brazil Economic Conference in Washington DC, October 13, 2008
Reply-To: conference@brazilcham.com

“…Brazil, the B in the BRIC economies – Brazil, Russia, India and China – today’s version of economic tigers… is projecting a period of sustained growth, with the gross domestic product increasing 5 percent a year, from now to 2010, and about 3 to 4 percent annually for the decade after.” (The New York Times, July 2, 2008)

2008 Brazil Economic Conference
The Exciting B in BRICs: Growth and Opportunities in a Post Investment Grade World

October 13, 2008

The Mayflower Hotel, Washington, D.C.

Please click here to download the registration form or click here to register online.

For sponsorship information, please contact the Chamber Executive Director, Sueli Bonaparte, at (212) 751-4691 or e-mail:  Sueli at brazilcham.com

Brazilian-American Chamber of Commerce, Inc.
509 Madison Avenue, Suite 304
New York, NY 10022
Tel: 212-751-4691
Fax: 212-751-7692
Visit our new website! www.brazilcham.com

Fukuda’s heart for G8 leadership.

By KEVIN RAFFERTY
Special to The Japan Times, July 1, 2008.
This fragile earth of about 6.5 billion souls faces grave and unprecedented challenges: soaring prices of oil and basic commodities that fuel daily life; price increases that make staple foods like rice and wheat too expensive for millions of poor people; a savage profusion of natural and man-made disasters killing hundreds of thousands of vulnerable people from China to Myanmar, North Korea and Zimbabwe; the threat of stagflation that will cost millions of jobs and hopes and dreams.

That’s the immediate daily toll. Above and beyond are serious short- and medium-term threats, including Islamic terrorism that seeks mass murder and economic mayhem in the name of a supposedly merciful God, and a global economic structure that lets a billion people go to bed hungry every night.

Now, conveniently on the eve of the annual global summit of world leaders, comes fresh proof of the threat to mankind’s very existence with evidence that the world is suffocating itself to death by dependence on fossil fuels. The Group of Eight leaders will meet in the cool of Hokkaido with Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda in the chair, offering Japan the opportunity to show leadership for which the world now and in generations to come would be truly thankful.

Sadly, there are no signs that Fukuda knows what leadership is.

U.S. data in mid-June warned that the Arctic summer ice cap is melting far more rapidly than imagined, and could be gone as soon as 2013. Previously, it had been assumed that the summer ice would hold fast until 2080.

James Hansen, a leading scientist at NASA, warned the U.S. Congress in June, “We’re toast if we don’t get on a different path.” If something is not done to reduce carbon dioxide levels to 1988 levels by urgent drastic action, he forecast, expect dramatic rises in sea levels, ecosystem collapse and mass extinction.

The response of world leaders has been pathetic. A hastily called summit in Saudi Arabia saw leaders of the industrialized world pleading with the oil kingdom to increase production. The Saudis did so, but only by 200,000 barrels, which was not enough to push prices down. Oil jumped above $140 a barrel amid growing talk of $200 oil, or $250, due to China and India’s thirst for it.

The G8 thus underlined its uselessness by showing that it doesn’t know what is going on and they have no plan.

Meanwhile, representatives of the top 16 carbon-emitting countries, including China and the U.S., have been talking in Japan, Korea and other places to try to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions by 50 percent by 2050 — which may be at least 25 years too late if the latest research is correct. They failed, and the statement to be adopted on the sidelines of the Hokkaido summit will call only for “serious consideration” of recommendations of the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. There was no reference to the proposed 50 percent reduction target.

Of course, poor Fukuda and poor Japan are playing hosts to the wrong kind of gathering. The G8 has long passed its sell-by date as a body that pretends to world leadership, and without China and India at the top table, it is a shameful sham. It is also taking place at the wrong time, since the world is waiting for U.S. President George W. Bush’s exit in the hope that a new president may understand what it is to be part of the world.

The G8 is really the G-9, with the ninth seat for the European Union. How can anyone justify giving the EU president his own place, as well as chairs for France, Germany, Italy and the Britain, while excluding China and India.

China and India do get invited to the various “outreach” meetings along with, this year, Brazil, Indonesia, South Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, South Africa, Algeria, Australia, Ethiopia, Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal and Tanzania. Thus what started as fireside chats between a handful of leaders in Rambouillet in 1975 have become unwieldy G-9 meetings with unwieldier outreach meetings guaranteed to minimize progress.

If Fukuda is a leader, he should propose the immediate admission of China and India to the G8. Give the Europeans the choice of letting the EU represent them, or living with a G8 consisting of the eight biggest global economies — in which case the EU president should be sent packing along with Canada, probably Italy and possibly even Russia.

Japan should be aware that time is not on its side as it dithers while China grows and grows. Fred Bergsten, director of the influential Peterson Institute for International Economics, in an article in Foreign Affairs expresses unhappiness with China’s failure to accept the international obligations of its economic strength. He suggests a G-2 (U.S. and China) or a G3 (U.S., China and EU).

If Fukuda really wants to show guts, he should extend the summit by three days, tell the leaders to select two assistants each — one for expert advice and the other to take notes — and shoo the rest of the ministers, Sherpas, footsoldiers, press and myriad hangers-on away to enjoy the delights of Hokkaido.

Fukuda should contemplate the empty glory of a useless summit before he becomes toast as yet another unlamented former prime minister. The G8 is toast and soon we will all be toast. Is that Fukuda’s preferred legacy?

Kevin Rafferty was managing editor at the World Bank