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.

Environment Minister John Baird heads to the Potsdam meeting of G8 ministers with the stated objective of bringing in the US, China, and India into the Kyoto process. He also says he doesn’t want to do anything that might jeapardise productivity, and doesn’t want to participate in an international emisisons market. Exactly why other countries would want to take measures that Canada refuses to abide by is not clear.

By refusing to act decisively on climate change until Bush does, the Harper government has effectively given the industrial world’s biggest foot-dragger on global warming the final say on any intergovernmental effort. One wonders why anyone bothers holding meetings of environment ministers anymore.

George Bush’s senior climate change negotiator today poured cold water on Tony Blair’s hopes of achieving a concrete US commitment to cutting greenhouse gas emissions at this week’s G8 summit.

Canada now leads the G8 nations in the highest percentage increase in greenhouse gas emissions, with 25% from 1990 to 2005. Although Canada’s population is only 0.5% of the global total, it contributes approximately 2% of all emissions.

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

U.S. Treasury Secretary, Henry Paulson, is urging the G8 nations to support Climate Investment Funds, which help fund technology developments in developing countries in order to fight climate change.

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.