34th G8 summit

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The 34th G8 summit is to take place in Toyako, Japan 7-9th of July 2008[1]. It will be the first G8 summit for British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda. It is also the last for US president George W. Bush.

Contents

[edit] Leaders at the summit (Tentative)

[edit] Permanent

[edit] Invited (partial participation)

[edit] G8+5 national leaders

[edit] Heads of international organizations

[edit] Issues

[edit] Africa

On April 16, 2007, Agence France Presse reported that, following a meeting in Tokyo between Italian Prime Minister Prodi and Japanese Prime Minister Abe, Abe stated that "As both our countries will be chairing these summits, cooperation is essential. The issues to be taken up at the G8 summit meeting are long-term issues." Prodi stated that "It is necessary to build a joint policy towards Africa... Africa is developing economically amid globalisation. We have up until now discussed major environmental and human disasters in Africa at our G8 meetings [such as investment]."[2]

On November 18, 2006, a senior official from Germany announced that Germany will not focus on debt relief and increased aid to Africa at the 33rd G8 summit, because the 2005 report of the Commission for Africa left the issue to be taken up again by the Japanese G8 presidency in 2008.[2]

According to a report by Julius Court, of the Overseas Development Institute: "In [2008], Japan will be Chair of the G8 and host the Fourth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD IV) — a 5-yearly gathering of African leaders and their development partners. Africa will be in the spotlight again."[2]

Fletcher Tembo, also of the Overseas Development Institute (ODI), further explains the importance of Africa for the 2008 G8 conference: "Africa, which has been on the G8 agenda since 2000 when Japan last chaired the G8, has continued to lag behind on progress towards meeting Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) while Asia has made considerable strides during the same period. With Japan chairing the G8 again in 2008, there is an opportunity to develop firm commitments for the G8-Africa partnership, based on answers to big questions on why what has happened in Asia has not happened in Africa."[3]

[edit] Climate change and sustainable energy dialogue

On March 20, 2007, Agence France Presse reported that Japanese "Prime Minister Abe will ask his cabinet ministers to develop a package of proposals to present to next year's Group of Eight summit of world leaders, which Japan will host. Japanese government ministers will "discuss proposals on a new framework that will ensure participation by the United States and China, the world's largest greenhouse-gas emitters," a foreign ministry official said."

On February 18, 2007, Jiji Press English News Service reported that Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe stated that he will lead discussions of environmental protection and climate change in Heiligendamm, where it will be a major topic. Jiji Press English News Service also reported that "Environmental issues will remain at the fore at next year's G8 summit in Japan, where attendees are seen to discuss how Japan and other advanced nations should achieve their targets for cutting greenhouse gas emissions set out in the 1997 Kyoto Protocol. A post-Kyoto Protocol framework for tackling global warming will also likely be on the agenda at the 2008 summit among Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the United States, Abe said."

Fletcher Tembo also notes that the 2008 G8 conference is an important platform to firm up commitments based on the initial framework agreed upon at the December 2007 United Nations Climate Change Conference held in Bali, Indonesia.[3]

[edit] Intellectual property rights controversy

See more: Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement[4]

A leaked document[5] details provisions of a proposed plurilateral trade agreement that would impose strict enforcement of intellectual property rights related to Internet activity and trade in information-based goods. If adopted, a treaty of this form would impose a strong, top-down enforcement regime imposing new cooperation requirements upon ISPs, including perfunctory disclosure of customer information, as well as measures restricting the use of online privacy tools. The proposal also specifies a plan to encourage developing nations to accept the legal regime. Talking points from the European Commission, the Office of the United States Trade Representative, the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and others have published selected passages ostensibly from this document; refer to http://ipjustice.org/wp/campaigns/acta/ for useful links.

[edit] Political issues including Nuclear Non-proliferation

Two important issues to be discussed include terrorism and nuclear non-proliferation.[6]

[edit] World Economy

The Summit Website highlights several key issues surrounding the world economy to be discussed, including: sustained growth of the world economy, investment, trade, protection of intellectual property rights, emerging economies and natural resources.[6]

[edit] See also

Energy Portal

[edit] References

  1. ^ Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Japan) G8 Tōyako Summit http://www.mofa.go.jp/policy/economy/summit/2008/index.html retrieved on 2007-12-27.
  2. ^ a b c Prospective Agenda for the 2008 G8 Hokkaido Summit, G8 Information Centre, published April 30, 2007-04-30, accessed 2007-06-08
  3. ^ a b The Japan G8 in 2008: a New Year’s Resolution for delivery on the big questions? , ODI Blog, published December 20, 2007-12-20, accessed 2008-01-02
  4. ^ wikileaks.org: ACTA Full text (176 KB) , wikileaks.org, accessed 2008-05-25
  5. ^ wikileaks.org: ACTA , wikileaks.org, accessed 2008-05-25
  6. ^ a b G8 Hokkaido Toyako Summit: Main Themes , Japan MOFA, accessed 2008-01-02

[edit] External links

Preceded by
33rd G8 summit		 G8 Summit
2008		 Succeeded by
35th G8 summit