Controversy At Its Finest....Let Our Voices Be Heard....: France

What begin as a simple summit meeting in 1975 to discuss the oil crisis has now risen to become one of the most debated 3 days of the year. What is this I speak of? G-8. How simplistic. G-8. What exactly does the G & 8 stand for? G= Group, 8= number of countries allowed to take part.

The countries honored enough to participate are "supposed" to be from the largest economies in the world. Although, apparently Russia is the exception to that. (As of right now, China is the fourth leading economic power in the world.)

So what is the purpose of this group? Each country takes turns every year at the presidency. The country holding the presidency is responsible for planning and hosting a series of ministerial-level meetings, leading up to a mid-year summit attended by the heads of government. The ministerial meetings bring together ministers responsible for various portfolios to discuss issues of mutual or global concern. The range of topics include health, law enforcement, labour, economic and social development, energy, environment, foreign affairs, justice and interior, terrorism and trade.

Before I get into the history of the group, news, players, etc, I want to explore some questions.

Question One: How Beneficial Is This Group?

Question Two: What Purpose Do They Really Serve?

Question Three: How Do They Affect Us?

Question Four: Why Won't They Include China?

I don't know the answers to these questions. What I would like to know is, why is the summit every year surrounded by demonstrators? Why all the controversy? What is the true purpose behind these meetings? If the intention is truly to create a "global" society, then how will that affect us?

I don't see our world being a true"global" society. I don't see how it could work. Is this what the demonstrators are concerned about? There are too many people in this world that are power hungry and would not share this with anyone. That is main reasoning why I don't believe a "global" society will work.

Now, onto the history behind this organization:

Changes They Have Implemented from 1995-2006

The 1995 summit in Halifax, Canada, led to significant changes in the way in which the World Bank, the IMF and other international organizations operated.

The 1996 summit in Lyons launched the first Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative.

The 1997 summit in Denver saw the clearest ever indication that the Cold War had ended with the historic invitation for Russia to join the group.

The 1998 summit in Birmingham saw the first G8 summit and the adoption of the "heads only" policy that separated the summit of the Heads of State and Government from that of their Foreign and Finance ministers.

The Cologne Summit in 1999 saw the Enhanced HIPC Initiative that agreed over $37billion of debt relief to some of the world's most needy countries.

In 2000 at the Okinawa summit, Heads agreed to provide further funding to fight infectious disease and adopted a charter on new information and communications technology and the digital divide.

The 2001 summit at Genova saw the creation of a Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

These representatives worked with the African Leaders and produced a G8 Action Plan at the Kananaskis Summit in 2002 that provided a solid commitment from each member of the G8 to Africa and agreed priority areas for development assistance. At Kananaskis, Leaders also announced important work on the fight against terrorism, (and notably the creation of the Global Partnership Against the Spread of Weapons and Materials of Mass Destruction and the adoption of transport security measures), sustainable development and education for all. Leaders also examined a number of regional issues (the situation in the Middle East, Afghanistan, and India/Pakistan relations).

Evian 2003. Central to this summit in France was a package of measures on sustainable development. Under the Action Plan adopted, the number of people without access to potable water and sanitation facilities was to be halved by 2015.
Another summit document concerned support for the application of science and technology to questions of global observation, air pollution, climate change, agriculture and biodiversity. At Evian the G8 also took further steps in the fight against terrorism.
The stage was set for the Paris Club to provide tailor-made phased debt-relief to countries not qualifying under the HIPC Initiative.

Sea Island, Georgia, 2004 The Secure and Facilitated International Travel Initiative (SAFTI) was adopted. This provided for measures of different kinds, among them steps:
to improve the security of travel documents,
to improve the exchange of terrorism-related information to counter the threat from man-portable air defence systems (ManPADS),
and measures to promote in-flight security, and the security of ports and sea transport.

At the 2005 G8 Summit in Gleneagles an action plan was signed to increase energy efficiency. Furthermore, it was agreed to work for the increased use of renewable energy in the G8 states, as well as in the large newly industrialising and developing nations.In the summit declaration the G8 committed itself to the climate convention and the continuation of multilateral policies to deal with the problem of climate change.This plan envisages the International Energy Authority (IEA) investigating and developing strategies and scenarios for the sustainable use of energy.

At St. Petersburg in 2006 it was agreed to develop an effective approach to the three interrelated challenges of energy security, economic growth and environmental protection.The St Petersburg Plan of Action on Global Energy Security was agreed at the same time. The G8 hereby recognised the necessity of making sufficient energy resources available at reasonable prices on the world market.

News Reports From this years meeting:

The summit of the heads of government of the G8 (Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, and United States) failed to satisfy its own commitment, made at the 2005 summit in Gleneagles, Scotland, of doubling aid to Africa by 2010. The group also ended the three day meet at this Baltic seaside resort without a compromise on establishing a binding code of conduct for hedge funds, which, with their highly risky speculative operations, experts say, tend to destabilise international financial markets, undermine growth in the real economy, and have the potential to provoke a major crisis among banks and other private financial institutions. In a joint declaration on Africa released Friday, the last day of the summit, the G8 countries promised to "scale up their efforts to contributing towards the goal of universal access to comprehensive HIV/AIDS prevention programmes, treatment and care and support by 2010 for all."

The three-day Group of Eight summit, held in this Baltic seaside resort, ended with two vague, non-binding promises -- more aid for Africa, and negotiations towards a post-Kyoto Protocol international agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions -- and failures in numerous other items on the agenda. This G8 failure in Heiligendamm to pass its self-imposed test of credibility will certainly mark the future of its summits. The leaders of the G8 countries (Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, and the United States) said their farewells without an agreement on international trade negotiations, or on eliminating subsidies for agriculture in the industrialised world, a move that would give development a boost in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. No agreement was reached either on a new regulation of the highly speculative, and therefore risky, hedge funds, nor on the political status of the Serbian province of Kosovo. At the same time, the only accords the G8 leaders reached in Heiligendamm -- on a medium-term reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and new aid for Africa -- are considered as weak compromises, tailored only to avoid the impression that the summit was a total failure.

http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=38104

The Players: