Latest update: 07/07/2008 

- climate change - G8 - Japan - oil


Can the G8 make a difference?
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The G8 summit of leading industrialised countries opens on the Japanese island of Hokkaido on Monday, a meeting almost certain to be dominated by the rising costs of food and energy. But what can G8 leaders really achieve?

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On Monday's Top Story, host Robert Parsons spoke with Yale political science professor Jolyon Holworth about the G8 talks in Japan. The latter said that the group’s effectiveness differs for each issue. For example, he does not see the G8 as resolving the problem of escalating petrol prices. “The markets determine the price of oil,” he said. “There’s not much the G8 or anyone can do about it.”

Holworth also suggested each nation's individual concerns could overshadow their G8 promises, such as those regarding aid to Africa. He explained, “Because of the world economic crisis, some nations are backpedalling (on their Africa pledges) to solve their own short-term economic crises.”

So what good is the G8 if nations are delinquent? For Holworth, “One of the benefits is that it creates peer pressure for member nations to keep their promises.” 

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