Officials from G8 nations undertook here on Tuesday to set up micro-credit facilities for African nations with the help of the World Bank.

German Development Minister Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul said giving poor Africans access to credit would be at the top of the agenda when leaders of the Group of Eight wealthiest nations meet in Germany in June.

Reuters

Environment ministers from the G8 rich nations on Monday urged their leaders to set a global target to halve greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

The Globe and Mail

One day after a long-term target for combatting climate change was adopted by the Group of Eight, the world’s main developing countries refused to sign on because they want wealthy countries to commit to taking on a heavier burden over the next decade.

The Globe and Mail

Tackling climate change has never come easy to George W. Bush — Texas oil man, global warming skeptic and Kyoto killer.

But yesterday in Japan, the U.S. President joined Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and the other Group of Eight leaders in setting targets for the first time to cut greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2050, helping to bring the United States back into the climate change fold.

Democracy Now

In Japan, world leaders at the G8 summit have announced they would work toward cutting carbon emissions by at least 50 percent by 2050. The White House hailed the declaration as a major step forward, but environmental campaigners criticized the lack of a commitment to midterm targets. Global warming ties into other big themes, such as soaring food and fuel prices, being discussed at the three-day summit. We go to Hokkaido to speak with Walden Bello of Focus on the Global South.

Toronto Star

Prime Minister Stephen Harper worked to ensure that the Group of Eight leaders produced a climate change agreement that did not contain overly ambitious goals for cutting greenhouse gases, a senior Canadian government official says.

The Guardian

This article highlights the current announcement from the G8 summit that all member countries will halve greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. This begs the question of “is this really quick enough to make a difference?”

Globe and Mail

Hopes have dimmed for stronger action on climate change – a central goal of this week’s G8 summit in Japan – with countries such as the United States and Canada resisting calls for the group to set hard midterm targets for reducing emissions.

There’s a sense here that, besides some modest steps, leaders are already looking beyond this summit to next year’s UN climate-change talks, and the successor to U.S. President George W. Bush.

Environmental groups and European groups had called for the G8 to set midterm targets for reducing greenhouse-gas emissions by 2020.

The New York Times

Now, with oil prices hitting dizzying levels and the world struggling with global warming, the country is hoping to use its conservation record to take a rare leadership role on a pressing global issue. It will showcase its efforts to export its conservation ethic — and its expensive power-saving technology — at next week’s meeting in Japan of the Group of 8 industrial leaders.

Planet Ark

None of the G8 countries have come even close to fulfilling their pledges to fight climate change with the United States, Canada and Russia lagging especially far behind, a new study published on Thursday found. The “G8 Climate Scorecards” compiled by environmental group WWF and Allianz said even Great Britain, France and Germany at the top of the rankings had all failed abysmally to implement measures to back the goals of cutting carbon dioxide emissions.