This latest G-8 summit, which concluded yesterday in the German Baltic resort of Heiligendamm, has been long on images and short on binding commitments. This time the protesters got almost as much coverage as the big guys behind the security cordon. They certainly provided us with enduring images. The front-page picture of a clown being held down by riot police in full body armor is innately powerful. It sums up how the strong holds down the weak, which is precisely the point the protesters are making.
Meanwhile the most powerful men and woman of the world were busy trying to look good. We had the rather amusing “family portrait” where they all sat in a big wicker beach chair, each beneath their national flag. It served to remind us that it was all friendly and cozy on the inside, no more talk of pointing your nuclear missiles at your friends Mr. Putin, no more opting out of a deal on climate change Mr. Bush. The G-8 is a club after all, a place for friendly banter among equals, a time to remind the world of who runs the show, an opportunity to include and exclude.
The excluded were invited in on a guest pass. India and China, countries with bigger economies and populations than say Italy, were part of the G8+5, that is the G-8 plus five “outreach” countries: India, China, Brazil, Mexico and South Africa. Both Manmohan Singh, the prime minister of India, and Hu Jintao, the president of China, were in Heiligendamm on Friday. The former met Tony Blair whilst the latter had a meeting with Nicolas Sarkozy. What a missed opportunity! Surely they could have invited them in for the full shebang? Particularly as Bush reminded us again and again that any climate deal needed to include China and India in order to be viable. Well here they were Sir, right there in your hotel; pity you couldn’t use this opportunity to hammer a deal.
But never mind, a “huge” deal did come out of this seaside jaunt. No, not a deal, a step forward, a “major, major step forward” Tony Blair called it, or even “a very, very substantial and significant step forward” according to Angela Merkel. Are you sitting down? This major, major, very, very enormous step forward is that Blair over breakfast convinced his old mate Bush, as a parting gift to a loyal friend, to “seriously consider” cutting emissions. That’s it. There is no commitment. There is no target. Just a promise to think about it. The US — and Russia — have made no binding commitments, just a promise to consider following suit in the decision taken by the EU, Canada and Japan to cut carbon emissions by half by 2050 from 1990 levels. It’s an agreement to talk, no more, no less. What it does is pave the way for an eventual UN-sponsored climate agreement by 2009, which is an achievement of sorts. But could they have done better? I think so. Even Sarkozy thinks so. The new kid on the block preferred to be frank: “If you want me to say that we could have done better, then yes. I want to speak frankly.” Can you imagine if they all started to speak frankly? Now that would be entertaining.
But there was no shortage of entertainment. This summit was certainly not the normal staid fare of impeccably mannered diplomacy. Sarkozy was so excited at standing shoulder to shoulder with world leaders that he just had to whip out his cell phone and make a call. You can just imagine the conversation: “Look at me! I am standing next to Vladimir Putin! Guess what? I’m taller than he is!” Who was he speaking to? Who was the caller who deserved time out from a meeting of the world’s most powerful leaders? Well I don’t know. But I do know the mystery caller also got to speak to Putin and they all seemed very, very excited.
As for the paparazzi, they were also very, very excited, for whilst Sarkozy and Putin were phoning a friend, Sarkozy’s wife, the very photogenic Cecilia, made a disappearing act. Not for her the-no-doubt thrilling lecture on demographic change organized by Joachim Sauer — professor husband of Angela Merkel — for the spouses of the G-8 leaders. Not for her lunch and small talk with Laura Bush and Cherie Blair. No Sir, she had far more pressing things to do. No sooner had she accompanied her husband on his grand entrance to the G-8 Club than she was back on a plane to Paris. Just like her husband, Cecilia Sarkozy is intent on ringing in the changes. Or maybe this is just another chapter in the soap opera that is the Sarkozy marriage. After all, this is a woman who did not even vote for her husband last month!
And then to top it all, Bush goes down with a stomach bug! Guess he really was seriously considering a climate deal, guess all that thinking just did not agree with him. Or was it the German food? Now that would be a diplomatic faux pas!
But joking aside, the G-8 leaders did end their summit on a bang. They announced a pledge of $60 billion in aid to Africa in the fight to eradicate AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis. Let us hope that this time, unlike the broken promises of the G-8 summit in Gleneagles two years ago, they make good on their promises. I’m willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. I’m even willing to believe that seriously thinking about cutting carbon emission will eventually translate into cutting emissions. They may clown around and hide behind a smokescreen of vagueness and false promises, but every now and then, genuine progress is made.
