G8 results meet Canada's Summit goals

Prime Minister Paul Martin underlined the resolve of G8 Leaders at the Gleneagles Summit to demonstrate their commitment to Africa and to address climate change.

"The results of this Summit clearly demonstrate that G8 Leaders remain committed to strong action on issues of global concern in spite of the terrible attacks that took place in London. Terrorism will not succeed in diverting us from this important work," said the Prime Minister. “Canada and the G8 will respond resolutely to the global challenge of terrorism.”

Highlights of the Gleneagles Summit outcomes include:

• A joint statement by G8 Leaders and the Leaders of Brazil, China, India, Mexico and South Africa on their resolve to confront and defeat terrorism.
  
  
• A resolution to take urgent action to address climate change as a serious and long-term challenge and to initiate a Plan of Action, while ensuring secure, reliable and affordable energy sources.
  
  
• A reaffirmation of the partnership with Africa in support of Africa’s development and an agreement to double aid for Africa by 2010.
  
  
• An endorsement of the on-going efforts regarding the Middle East Peace Process, particularly with respect to withdrawal from Gaza and parts of the West Bank, and support for the Palestinian Authority.

G8 members acknowledged the need for all to do their part in achieving an orderly unwinding of global imbalances. They emphasized the importance of credible and sustainable fiscal, monetary and structural policies to promote growth and higher living standards.

Canada is particularly pleased that the G8 will work together to move forward the global discussion on long-term co-operative action to address climate change including at the UN Climate Change Conference in Montreal later in 2005. We welcome the agreement of G8 Leaders to:

• Act with resolve and urgency to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improve the global environment, enhance energy security and cut air pollution.
  
  
• Commit to an ambitious Plan of Action to combat climate change.
  
  
• Acknowledge the importance of adaptation strategies to address the effects of climate change, particularly in areas that may experience the most significant change, such as the Arctic.
  
  
• Establish a Dialogue on Climate Change, Clean Energy and Sustainable Development with other interested countries with significant energy needs.

On Africa, G8 leaders renewed their commitment to support the NEPAD (New Partnership for Africa’s Development), including actions to:

• Double aid to Africa, and make aid more effective.
  
  
• Encourage and support efforts to reduce barriers to private sector development, trade and investment in Africa.
  
  
• Give priority to action to prevent and treat diseases such as HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis, and recommit to fund polio eradication.
  
  
• Support African countries’ commitment to improved governance, including through the African Peer Review Mechanism;
  
  
• Assist the African Union in preventing conflict and supporting peace-keeping efforts, including for the African Union Mission in Sudan (Darfur) and the UN Mission in Sudan.
  
  
• Encourage Zimbabwe to respect human rights and the rule of law.
  
  
• Work with African partners to strengthen the African Partnership Forum to enable it to monitor and report back on commitments made via the G8-Africa partnership.

The Prime Minister and his G8 colleagues emphasized their determination to meet proliferation challenges decisively; reviewed the situations in North Korea, Iran, Lebanon, Syria, and Iraq; and reaffirmed the need for long-term international engagement to bring stability to Afghanistan and Haiti.

At Gleneagles, the Prime Minister held bilateral meetings with Prime Minister Koizumi, Chancellor Schroeder and President Putin. He also met with James Wolfensohn, Quartet Envoy for Gaza Withdrawal, who sought G8 support for his plans to coordinate Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza and four West Bank settlements.

CHAIR’S SUMMARY, GLENEAGLES SUMMIT, 8 JULY

We met at Gleneagles for our annual Summit, 6-8 July 2005.

Terrorist Attacks on London

All the world leaders who gathered at Gleneagles yesterday and today condemned the

barbaric attacks on London and offered our profound condolences to the victims and their families. We came to Gleneagles to work to combat poverty and save and improve lives. We have not allowed violence to disrupt the work of this Summit. The terrorists have not and will not succeed. As well as our work on poverty and climate change, we resolved to intensify our work on counter terrorism.

Climate Change

We were joined for our discussion on climate change and the global economy by the leaders of Brazil, China, India, Mexico, and South Africa and by the heads of the International Energy Agency, International Monetary Fund, United Nations, World Bank, and the World Trade Organisation.

We have issued a statement setting out our common purpose in tackling climate change, promoting clean energy and achieving sustainable development.

All of us agreed that climate change is happening now, that human activity is contributing to it, and that it could affect every part of the globe.

We know that, globally, emissions must slow, peak and then decline, moving us towards a low-carbon economy. This will require leadership from the developed world.

We resolved to take urgent action to meet the challenges we face. The Gleneagles Plan of Action which we have agreed demonstrates our commitment. We will take measures to develop markets for clean energy technologies, to increase their availability in developing countries, and to help vulnerable communities adapt to the impact of climate change.

We warmly welcomed the involvement of the leaders of the emerging economy countries in our discussions, and their ideas for new approaches to international co-operation on clean energy technologies between the developed and developing world.

Our discussions mark the beginning of a new Dialogue between the G8 nations and other countries with significant energy needs, consistent with the aims and principles of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. This will explore how best to exchange technology, reduce emissions, and meet our energy needs in a sustainable way, as we implement and build on the Plan of Action.

We will advance the global effort to tackle climate change at the UN Climate Change

Conference in Montreal later this year. Those of us who have ratified the Kyoto Protocol remain committed to it, and will continue to work to make it a success.

Africa and Development

We were joined for our discussion on Africa and development by the leaders of Algeria, Ethiopia, Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa and Tanzania and by the heads of the African Union Commission, International Monetary Fund, United Nations and the World Bank.

We discussed how to accelerate progress towards the Millennium Goals, especially in

Africa which has the furthest to go to achieve these goals by 2015.

We welcomed the substantial progress Africa has made in recent years. More countries have held democratic elections. Economic growth is accelerating. Long running conflicts are being brought to an end.

We agreed that we and our African partners had a common interest in building on that

progress to create a strong, peaceful and prosperous Africa; we share a strong moral

conviction that this should be done, and have agreed the actions that we will take.

The African leaders set out their personal commitment, reaffirmed strongly at this week’s African Union summit, to drive forward plans to reduce poverty and promote economic growth; deepen transparency and good governance; strengthen democratic institutions and processes; show zero tolerance for corruption; remove all obstacles to intra-African trade; and bring about lasting peace and security across the continent.

The G8 in return agreed a comprehensive plan to support Africa’s progress. This is set out in our separate statement today. We agreed:

• to provide extra resources for Africa’s peacekeeping forces so that they can better deter, prevent and resolve conflicts in Africa

• to give enhanced support for greater democracy, effective governance and

transparency, and to help fight corruption and return stolen assets

• to boost investment in health and education, and to take action to combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, TB and other killer diseases

• to stimulate growth, to improve the investment climate and to make trade work for Africa, including by helping to build Africa’s capacity to trade and working to mobilise the extra investment in infrastructure which is needed for business

The G8 leaders agreed to back this plan with substantial extra resources for countries which have strong national development plans and are committed to good  governance, democracy and transparency. We agreed that poor countries must decide and lead their own development strategies and economic policies.

We have agreed to double aid for Africa by 2010. Aid for all developing countries will increase, according to the OECD, by around $50bn per year by 2010, of which at least $25bn extra per year for Africa. A group of G8 and other countries will also take forward innovative financing mechanisms including the IFF for immunisation, an air-ticket solidarity levy and the IFF to deliver and bring forward their commitments, and a working group will consider the implementation of these mechanisms. We agreed that the World Bank should have a leading role in supporting the partnership between the G8, other donors and Africa, helping to ensure that additional assistance is effectively co-ordinated.

The G8 has also agreed that all of the debts owed by heavily indebted poor countries to the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the African Development Bank should be cancelled, as set out in our Finance Ministers agreement on 11 June. We also welcomed the Paris Club decision to write off around $17 billion of Nigeria's debt.

The G8 and African leaders agreed that if implemented these measures and the others set out in our comprehensive plan could:

• double the size of Africa’s economy and trade by 2015

• deliver increased domestic and foreign investment

• lift tens of millions of people out of poverty every year

• save ten million lives a year

• get all children into primary school

• deliver free basic health care and primary education for all

• provide as close as possible to universal access to treatment for AIDS by 2010

• generate employment and other opportunities for young people

• bring about an end to conflict in Africa.

In order to ensure delivery, we agreed to strengthen the African Partners Forum and that it should establish a Joint Action Plan.

But we know this is only the beginning. We must build on the progress we have made

today. We must take this spirit forward to the UN Millennium Review Summit in New York in September, and ensure a successful conclusion to the Doha Development Agenda.

Global Economy, Oil and Trade

We discussed the outlook for global economic growth, which we expect to remain robust. We recognised that maintaining this growth is a challenge, and reaffirmed that each of our countries must play its part to support long-term sustainable growth. Higher and more volatile oil prices are an issue of particular concern both to us and to vulnerable developing countries.

We agreed to redouble our efforts to achieve a successful conclusion across the whole of the Doha Development Agenda. We saw this as vital to drive growth and boost incomes across the world, and a necessary element of our work to reduce global poverty. We and our emerging economy partners agreed to inject the necessary political momentum into the discussion to ensure an outline agreement by the WTO Hong Kong Ministerial in December, and a final agreement in 2006.

We reaffirmed our commitment to open markets more widely to trade in agricultural goods, industrial goods and services, and in agriculture to reduce trade distorting domestic subsidies and eliminate all forms of export subsidies by a credible end date. We also committed to address products of interest to Least Developed Countries in the negotiations, and to ensure Least Developed Countries have the flexibility to decide their own economic strategies.

We issued statements on the global economy and oil, trade, and on action to reduce

Intellectual Property Right piracy and counterfeiting.

Regional Issues and Proliferation

We met James Wolfensohn, the Quartet's Special Envoy for Disengagement, who briefed on his work to help ensure a successful Israeli disengagement from Gaza and parts of the West Bank, and his proposals for long-term follow-up to that process, laying the foundations for the viability of a future Palestinian state. We welcomed and strongly endorsed his efforts, and will explore how best to support his proposals for the future.

We reconfirmed our commitment to the Partnership for Progress and a Common Future with the Region of the Broader Middle East and North Africa, based on genuine cooperation between the G8 and the governments, business and civil society of the region. We welcomed steps taken in the region to accelerate political, economic, social and educational reform and stressed our support for the emerging momentum in the region for change. We look forward to the Forum for the Future in Bahrain in November 2005 as an opportunity to further advance the work of the partnership.

Six months on from the enormous tragedy of the Indian Ocean disaster on 26 December 2004, we have underlined our support for UN work on post-tsunami humanitarian aid and reconstruction, as well as confirming our commitment to reduce the risk from future disasters and to encourage reform of the humanitarian system.

We reaffirmed that the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their delivery

systems, together with international terrorism, remain the pre-eminent threats to

international peace and security. We reaffirmed our commitments and called on all States to uphold in full international norms on non-proliferation and to meet their arms control and disarmament obligations. We emphasised our determination to meet proliferation challenges decisively, through both national and multilateral efforts. We expressed particular concern about the threat of proliferation in North Korea and Iran.

On Iran we support the efforts of France, Germany and the UK, with the EU, to address through negotiation the concerns about Iran's nuclear programme, and expressed once again the importance of Iran combating terrorism, supporting peace in the Middle East and respecting human rights and fundamental freedoms.

On North Korea, we support the Six Party Talks and urged North Korea to return promptly to them. We call on North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons-related programmes. Action is also long overdue for North Korea to respond to the international community's concern over its human rights record and the abductions issue.

We discussed the situations in Sudan and in Iraq and issued separate statements setting out our common approach. We also issued statements on the Middle East Peace Process, the Broader Middle East and North Africa Initiative, the Indian Ocean disaster, and counterproliferation, and a progress report on the Secure and Facilitated Travel Initiative (SAFTI). In addition, we discussed:

• Afghanistan, where we reaffirmed our commitment to support the Government and people of Afghanistan as they tackle their long term challenges of reconstruction, security, counter-narcotics, and restoring the rule of law, and welcomed the forthcoming Parliamentary and Provincial elections

• Lebanon, where we welcomed the recent elections and looked forward to the early formation of a new Lebanese Government made up of respected members of society, who support reform, and are committed to protecting the sovereignty of their country. We reiterated that UN Security Council Resolution 1559 must be applied in its entirety

• Zimbabwe, where we deplored recent events. The forced demolition of buildings there has left hundreds of thousands of Zimbabweans without housing or livelihoods, and caused great human suffering. We call on the Zimbabwean authorities to end this campaign now, address immediately the situation they have created, and respect human rights and the rule of law

We welcome the visit of the UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy. We look

forward to her report on the situation. We will continue to support the UN and other international organisations in their efforts to provide food and humanitarian assistance to all those in need in Zimbabwe

• Haiti, where we expressed concern at the deteriorating security situation. We

underlined the need for sustained international engagement, including through the active efforts of the UN Stabilisation Mission in Haiti, in support of a secure and stable environment, essential for elections later in 2005, and for the country's longterm development

We welcomed the offer of the President of the Russian Federation to host our next Summit in 2006