Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva embarks today for Gleneagles, Scotland, where he will participate in the 31st G8 Summit Meeting, which got underway yesterday, July 5.
Brazil is one of the five non-G8 countries invited to attend the Summit. Poverty in African and planetary climate change are the central themes of the encounter, which runs through Friday, July 8.
The G8 is composed of the world’s seven richest countries – the United States, Canada, Japan, Great Britain, France, Germany, and Italy – and Russia.
Along with the leaders of the group, representatives of Brazil, China, India, Mexico, and South Africa will participate in an expanded session tomorrow, July 7, to discuss the impacts of climate change and issues related to economic and social development.
Lula’s agenda includes a meeting with leaders of the other guest countries and a private encounter with British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who has occupied the temporary presidency of the G8 since January of this year.
According to a note released by the Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Relations, the Itamaraty, Brazil and the other four guest countries will defend the importance of multilateralism and a fair division of the benefits of globalization.
Brazil will emphasize the role of South-South cooperation and the relevance of initiatives like the Action Against Hunger and Poverty launched by President Lula.
The proposals of the guest countries also include the removal of obstacles to international trade, especially of agricultural products, the intensification of North-South cooperation, and the mobilization of international support to obtain new and additional financial resources for development and the global campaign against hunger and poverty.
Brazil, China, India, Mexico, and South Africa will reaffirm the need for the developed countries to head efforts to curb climate change, in view of the fact that the Kyoto Protocol took effect on February 16 of this year. The Protocol, which sets targets for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, was not signed by the United States.
The five guest countries will ask for effective policies to be adopted to reduce emissions and will call for international cooperation initiatives to take into account the perspectives and needs of developing countries and guarantee them access to technically feasible technologies. A Joint Declaration at the end of the debates is expected to sum up the position of the guest countries.
Brazil will not participate in the expanded session on Africa scheduled for Friday. The guests at that session will be South Africa, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Ghana, Senegal, Algeria, and the president of the African Union.
Topics such as the war on terrorism, social and economic assistance to the Middle East, the Israel-Palestine conflict, and the opening of markets should be broached at the meetings restricted to leaders of the G8 member countries.
The G8, which was founded in 1975 by the world’s richest countries to unify their macroeconomic policies, meets every year to debate issues assigned priority by the country this is occupying the temporary presidency of the group.
Countries are invited to attend as guests on the basis of having something to do with the central themes.
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