Another G8 Conference

Still making plans after all these years.
The goal of the G8 is to discuss workable (profitable) solutions to world problems has produced little substance.

In their first meeting in 1977, then known as the Library Group, they set a lofty goal for themselves to "…work to increase the flow of aid and other real resources from the industrial to developing countries, particularly to the 800 million people who now live in absolute poverty; and to improve the effectiveness of aid." The World Bank was going to help improve "access to international finance" for poor countries. In other words, not so much as giving money (aid) but lending money (debt).

Over the course of subsequent annual meetings the group has repeatedly declared its “concern” and an “overriding priority to improve the plight of the world’s poor.”

Today, this group represents 65% of the Gross World Product, the majority of the global military power and 96-99% of the world’s active nuclear weapons and yet they have only followed through with less than 10% of their total pledge. In 2005 they had pledged $25B in aid to Africa and have only given $3B.

Just how meaningful is it for leaders of the world’s eight richest nations to take a break from their regular duties to meet in various locales around the globe just to discuss lofty goals and pledge money that never actually gets followed up on?

One of their topics of discussion will be high fuel prices. Since they collectively use two-thirds of the worlds oil, perhaps they should consider cutting back on its usage. They could provide better incentives for industries within their own borders to clean up their air polluting factories and develop cleaner fuel sources. They could also force the production of more fuel efficient automobiles without driving up food prices.

While we are on the topic of fuel conservation one suggestion that comes up would be to stop traveling all over the world to these meetings. Just how much fuel is consumed to fly these people and their entourage all over the world? Especially when there is seemingly no real benefit to doing so. We now have a technology called teleconferencing that should fit into these people’s schedules quite nicely thereby saving a lot of time, money, and fuel. Maybe they can give themselves carbon credits.

Since China and India are quickly becoming such economic powerhouses and consuming a much larger share of the oil supply to do so shouldn’t they have a seat at the table? Shouldn’t this group be the G10?

And what about Saudi Arabia? They hold a large share of the world’s oil production so shouldn’t they have a seat at the table? This would make it the G11.

High food prices will certainly be on the agenda. And since this exclusive club of eight produces 41% of the world’s wheat and 48% of the world’s corn (the number increase to 58% and 68% respectively if you include China) and consumes most of it, they should be able to come up with a better method of storage and distribution to help feed those countries that are not blessed with the excesses that the U.S. and Europe have. In fact, we have so much in the U.S. that its farmers are paid not to plant crops. Why can’t those unused fields be used to grow grains for the starving people of the world?

Then there is the problem of climate change, another ‘key’ topic for these leaders of the world’s richest and most polluting nations. This topic was discussed in some detail at last year’s summit in Germany where the only thing to come out of it was they would ‘seriously consider’ a global goal of cutting the world’s greenhouse gas emissions by half by the year 2050. More talk, little action.

Africa is going to be a major focus this time again due to it’s ongoing problems with poverty, starvation, diseases and another dictator who is making a joke of democracy.

What they need to discuss foremost is gathering up the political courage to actually do more than just talk about these very pressing and mounting problems. And until they do these meetings are nothing more than chat groups.