Obama and the G8 Summit in Italy

From Left to Right: Japanese PM Taro Aso, Canadian PM Stephen Harper, President Obama, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, Russian President Dmitri Medvedev

President Obama and his fellow G8 members met in Italy today to discuss the pressing issue of climate change. P.O.T.U.S on Sirius-XM radio broadcasted Obama's address after the summit, followed by commentary from Wall Street Journal's Stephen Power and Press Pool's Joe Mathieu. Unfortunately, I was listening to this broadcast while waiting in a parking lot and I suffered from a severe lack of a proper notebook, so I was forced to jot down my notes on an old receipt and a scrap piece of paper...so bear with me; this might not be the most organized post ever.

President Obama described the G8 Summit as a "candid and open discussion about the growing threat of climate change and what our nations must do, both individually and collectively, to address it." He went on to describe the threat of climate change as both real and dire. "Every nation on this planet is at risk. And just as no one nation is responsible for climate change, no one nation can address it alone," Obama stated, reiterating the point of the summit.

According to Obama, The G8 concluded that "by 2050, developed nations will reduce their emissions by 80 percent." Additionally, the group decided that they would help all other nations to cut global emissions in half. The leaders also agreed that global warming should not exceed an increase of two degrees Celsius. Obama and the other world leaders agree that these actions will greatly improve the state of the environment for the world. But are they doing everything they can? Stephen Power and Joe Mathieu do not seem to think so.

Stephen Powers' main concern is that all of the goals set by the recent G8 Summit are long term. Powers believes that short term goals are also necessary. The G8 members did not make goals that included concrete actions that can be taken immediately. Moreover, Powers expressed concern over the fact that the developing countries of the world were not really addressed in this summit. Developing countries such as China and India are responsible for a huge portion of global emissions. Economically, developing countries can not afford to cut back in their emissions by large percentages. Powers believes that the developed countries, such as those represented by the G8, should agree to help these developing countries in their efforts to cut emissions.

Joe Mathieu poked fun at the summit's goal to keep atmospheric temperature from exceeding two degrees Celsius. "What are we going to do, put a giant thermometer in the sky?" He asked jokingly. He is right though. While the goal is certainly measurable, it is not exactly enforceable. And how did they even come up with two degrees Celsius? Why is that the magic number?

All in all, the G8 Summit on climate change served as a progressive step towards cleaner energy and fewer carbon emissions on a position. Will this magically solve everything? Far from it. As Obama stated, "...we don't expect to solve this problem in one meeting or one summit, [but] I believe we've made some important strides forward..."

Good night and have a pleasant tomorrow,
Kayla