By KUNA,
Toyako, Japan : Leaders of the Group of Eight (G-8) industrialized nations kicked off their annual summit Monday at Lake Toya resort in Hokkaido, northern Japan, with global warming and sky-rocketing oil and food prices dominating the agenda.
The three-day meeting of leaders from Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, and the US began with an outreach dialogue is also attended by seven African heads of state amid riots and instability. The outcome of Monday’s meeting will be reflected in core G-8 sessions Tuesday.
The G-8 nations are expected to review their commitments of aid to the poverty-stricken continent made at the 2005 Gleneagles summit, when they had set a goal of more than doubling aid from 2004 levels by 2010.
The G-8 leaders will also reiterate that the increased assistance will be used to help Africa meet UN numerical targets for 2015, particularly in terms of health-related issues.
Attention in this year’s summit is focused on whether the G-8 nations can commit themselves to a long-term goal of slashing carbon dioxide emissions 50 percent from 1990 levels by 2050, which was agreed at last year’s summit in Germany.
Japan and European countries support the long-term goal, but the US takes a cautious stance about setting such a target, insisting that emerging nations like China and India should be part of a mandatory framework, not only industrialized nations.
Amid record-high prices of food and oil, the G-8 leaders are expected to discuss measures to control speculative funds into crude oil futures and food markets in a bid to improve transparency.
Tha Toyako summit brings together leaders from 22 nations, including China, India and Brazil, the largest number in summit history.