Who do you think can save the planet?

Saving The Planet

A group of the leaders of seven of the most powerful industrialised nations in the world plus Russia have been meeting in Gleneagles, Scotland this week. They are Prime Minister Tony Blair of Britain, Prime Minister Paul Martin of Canada, President Jacques Chirac of France, Chancellor Gerhardt Schroeder of Germany, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi of Italy, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi of Japan, President Vladimir Putin of Russia, and President George Bush of the USA.

Tony Blair was hoping to make progress on agreement on action to tackle climate change; an aim made very difficult by the fact that George Bush had walked away from the Kyoto Protocol, and sometimes seems not even to believe that global warming is a threat - or at least, enough of a threat that the USA should do much about it. He puts the USA economy first, and believes that measures to combat global warming would hurt that economy. While America failed to sign the Kyoto Treaty, Russia did sign it, making it possible for the treaty to come into effect.

Outside of the meeting were protestors - some peaceful, some not, some of them were keen to try and persuade the leaders to commit to action.

Scientists warn that we need to act now, and not just nibble at the edges of the problem.

Lobbyists cluster around governments trying to persuade them to do more. Environmental journalists write articles. Authors write books. TV companies produce documentaries and news segments. Bloggers write blogs; others run environmental web sites.

Some businesses are grasping the opportunity to satisfy the demand for ways of making savings on environment-damaging emissions, or to reduce ever-growing cost of energy. Some cut their own emissions only as a result of legislation.

Last month, U.S. Conference of Mayors agreed to adhere to the Kyoto Pact.

Many individuals, and the summit itself, compensate for their carbon dioxide emissions by investing in projects to reduce emissions. Others are investing in cleaner cars or renewable energy or insulating their homes.

Of all of these groups, who do you think will do most to save the planet? Do the G8 sound as though they will?

London blasts throw G8 summit into disarray, G8 reaches climate deal in principle - Germany

British Prime Minister Tony Blair left the Group of Eight summit in Gleneagles, Scotland, for several hours on Thursday to return to London to learn about the terrorist bombings for himself. Nevertheless, the summit continued. The Prime Minister said, "It is particularly barbaric that this has happened on a day when people are meeting to try to help the problems of poverty in Africa, the long-term problems of climate change and the environment". Foreign Secretary Jack Straw chaired the meeting for discussions on the climate, which set no targets. Because of President Bush's stance on climate warning, Blair had already said, "There is no point going back over the Kyoto debate ... that's not what it's about".

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