Under tight security, G-8 leaders face expectations on climate, oil and Zimbabwe

Enlarge Photo Under tight security, G-8 leaders face expectations on climate, oil and Zimbabwe

Sun, Jul 6 07:20 PM

RUSUTSU, Japan (AP) _ The world's top industrialized nations face pressing financial and environmental troubles at their annual summit Monday, confronted with demands they reinvigorate the stumbling world economy, push ahead languishing climate change talks, and make good on pledges to battle poverty and hunger. Leaders from the Group of Eight the United States, Japan, Germany, Britain, France, Canada, Italy and Russia began gathering in the northern Japanese resort village of Toyako on Sunday for three days of meetings among themselves and with heads of African nations and rapidly developing countries such as China.

The summit also coincides with demanding foreign policy issues such as the effort to strip North Korea of its nuclear weapons, mounting international pressure on Iran to stop its uranium enrichment program, and the threat of U.N. Security Council sanctions on Zimbabwe over its recent one-sided presidential election runoff. The meeting's Japanese hosts poured security agents and riot police about 20,000 of them into the isolated venue and surrounding towns, sealing access to the summit hotel and cloistering the 5,000 journalists covering it at Rusutsu, a resort 30 kilometers (20 miles) away.

Protesters were limited to rural villages or the distant city of Sapporo. Despite the demanding agenda, concerns were high that the political uncertainties in some member countries particularly the United States, where President George W. Bush is 200 days away from the end of his term could prevent decisive action.

The leaders of France, Japan and Britain also face domestic problems. Bush on Sunday urged his fellow leaders to push forward stalled talks on world trade in the so-called Doha Round, and to pour more aid into Africa, after a bilateral meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda.

"It's an opportunity for us, Mr. Prime Minister, to promote free and fair trade, and it's going to be an essential part of the development agenda," Bush said.

"The truth of the matter is we can give grants, but the best way to help the impoverished around the world is through trade, it's a proven fact." Climate change was a top agenda item for the summit.

U.N.-led talks aimed at forging a new global warming accord by the end of 2009 have stalled because of deep disagreements over what targets to set for greenhouse gas reductions, and how much developing countries such as China and India should be required to participate. As of Sunday, it was still unclear whether nations would be able to agree to a goal of cutting their emissions by 50 percent by 2050.

A more ambitious goal of setting nearer-term targets for 2020 was considered well beyond reach. "I don't think they're going to do much.

They're going to kick the can down the road," said Alden Meyer, a climate change expert with the Union of Concerned Scientists, suggesting real progress would have to wait for a new U.S. president in January. With global oil prices surging, the G-8 leaders are expected to urge major oil producers to increase supplies while also calling for steps to improve energy efficiency and develop alternative sources of energy within their own economies.

Oil spiked to a record US$145.85 a barrel last Thursday. It was unclear how effective a call by the G-8 to boost oil production would be when the group does not include Saudi Arabia, the world's largest exporter of crude, or any OPEC members.

The summit also is to extend the G-8's emphasis on Africa. Eight African leaders headed to Japan, and the summit faced rising expectations that it would address key problems such as food supplies, infectious diseases and economic development.

In a measure of the expectations on the group, Pope Benedict XVI on Sunday urged the G-8 to help the world's poor. "Many voices have been raised asking (G-8 leaders) to realize the commitments made at previous G-8 appointments and to courageously adopt all necessary measures to conquer the plagues of extreme poverty, hunger, disease, illiteracy," Benedict said while addressing pilgrims at the papal summer residence in the hill town of Castel Gandolfo near Rome.

Politics were also getting attention. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, scheduled to arrive in Japan on Monday, said the G-8 leaders would discuss how they can toughen sanctions on Zimbabwe in the wake of President Robert Mugabe's widely denounced presidential election victory.

"I hope that we will also get support from our African colleagues here," Merkel said in her weekly video message. The European Union already has travel bans and an asset freeze in place on Mugabe and other senior Zimbabwean officials.

The U.S. also is seeking international sanctions against Mugabe and his top aides.

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