Global Warming – G8 Nations Aren’t Doing Enough

Global Warming - There Is Work To Be Done

First Published Date: December 22, 2013 ADawnJournal.com

For environmentalists who look to the world’s established economies and governments to provide a positive lead on global warming, the news emanating from the World Wildlife Fund’s research looks gloomy, it has to be said. The news which has emerged this week is that none of the G8 – the group of eight nations which between them set the trends for much of the world to follow – has managed to do enough to curb global warming. Even worse news comes for the North American green movement with the revelation that sitting in spots seven and eight are the United States and Canada respectively. With this year seen as a pivotal moment in time for the purpose of reversing the global environmental trend, the outlook is decidedly frosty.

It cannot be doubted that Canada will feel it has the most to be embarrassed about. Although the United States recently elected Barack Obama to the presidency after eight years of the hugely Enviroskeptic leadership of George W Bush, President Obama has had less than half a year to turn things around, and Canada’s fall has as much to do with a shortfall of work on the part of the government to ensure that it is meeting its targets. With five months to go until the G8 leaders meet in Copenhagen, Denmark seeking to agree a new deal to replace the embattled Kyoto protocols of 1997, Stephen Harper’s government has not implemented a plan to curb emissions. According to the WWF, Canada is some distance off meeting its Kyoto agreements.

Although President Obama can feel personally proud that the report praised his efforts to prioritize cleaner, greener energy, he may reflect on the report’s conclusion that per capita emissions in the US are among the world’s highest and projected to increase. Pointedly the report mentioned that the Obama presidency had led to more action in the States in the last four months than in the previous three decades, adding that this trend “will hopefully continue”. A qualified thumbs up for Mr. Obama, then, with the caveat that his actions will continue to be monitored. He may be invited to start by taking action to limit the future temperature rise for the United States to a level two degrees Celsius above the levels pre 1900, action he is yet to take.

If Canada and the US are bottom of a poor grade, then the lukewarm congratulations must go to Germany and the United Kingdom. Both nations recently gave an improved share of the vote to their respective Green parties, but the real headline news for each is that Germany has promoted renewable energy and set a target of a 40% cut in greenhouse gases by 2020. The absence of clear implementation plans prevented them from getting full marks, while the United Kingdom’s success in not only meeting but surpassing its targets came with a small cloud attached in the shape of its markedly non-green record in transport. There remains work to be done between now and the Copenhagen meeting.

To streamline and minimize blog maintenance, I will be discontinuing maintaining the Thegreenlivingblog.com website (however, I will still hold the domain). I will gradually move all articles from this site to A Dawn Journal. This article originally published on the above website on July 7, 2009.