Under tight security, G-8 leaders face expectations on climate, oil and Zimbabwe

The Associated Press ,  Rusutsu, Japan   |  Sun, 07/06/2008 4:34 PM  |  World

Climate change, soaring oil prices and possible steps against Zimbabwe were high on the agenda as leaders from the Group of Eight economic powers gathered in Japan for their annual summit.

With fewer than 200 days left in his term, U.S. President George W. Bush was to meet Sunday with Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, who is hosting the three-day meeting at the picturesque lakeside resort of Toyako on the northern island of Hokkaido.

Security kicked into high gear on the weekend, with riot police in body armor monitoring checkpoints along roads leading to he summit site through the rolling farmland.

Japan has mobilized roughly 20,000 police officers in Hokkaido, many of them brought in from other parts of the country, to avert any terrorist attacks. The Yomiuri newspaper reported that F-15 fighter jets will patrol during the summit.

Protesters gathered Sunday for a second day of demonstrations against the G-8 in Sapporo, about 100 kilometers northeast of Toyako. On Saturday, thousands of demonstrators representing a range of causes, from fighting poverty to stopping global warming, marched through the city. Police briefly clashed with marchers, detaining four people.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the G-8 leaders will discuss how they can toughen sanctions on Zimbabwe in the wake of President Robert Mugabe's widely denounced presidential election runoff victory.

"We will confer on how we can toughen sanctions against Zimbabwe, and I hope that we will also get support from our African colleagues here," Merkel said in her weekly video message.

South African President Thabo Mbeki, whom Zimbabwe's opposition has accused of bias toward Mugabe, and Nigerian President Umaru Yar'Adua have been invited to meet with the Group of Eight leaders on Monday.

The EU already has travel bans and an asset freeze in place on Mugabe and other senior Zimbabwean officials. The U.S. also is seeking international sanctions against Mugabe and his top aides.

Climate change is a key topic at the meeting, and many hope the G-8 will give some indication of its commitment to cutting greenhouse gases to move forward the U.N.-led talks aimed at
replacing the Kyoto protocol on climate change, which expires 2012. Negotiators face a deadline of December 2009, when some 190 nations will meet in Denmark.

Host Fukuda would like to emerge from the summit with an agreement on 50 percent overall reductions in greenhouse gases by 2050. Some European countries and developing nations favor establishing targets for cutting emissions by 2020. Scientists say those targets are needed to avoid the worst effects of global warming.

But few expect major headway or concessions from Bush. He insists on holding China and India, fast-growing economies and among the world's biggest polluters, to emission-reduction standards as well.

Bush himself says a priority of this year's summit is not advancing new initiatives but making good on ones from previous summits, especially promises for health aid for countries in Africa and other underdeveloped nations.

"We need to show the world that the G-8 can be accountable for its promises and deliver  results," Bush said ahead of the summit. "America is on track to meet our commitments. And in Japan, I'll urge other leaders to fulfill their commitments, as well."

With global oil prices surging, the G-8 leaders are expected to urge major oil producers to increase supplies while also calling for steps to improve energy efficiency and develop
alternative sources of energy within their own economies. Oil spiked to a record US$145.85 a barrel on Thursday.

However, observers have questioned the effectiveness of any calls by the G-8 to boost oil production when the group does not include Saudi Arabia, the world's largest exporter of crude, or any OPEC members.

Likewise, there is growing criticism that the G-8 excludes other major economies such as China, India, Brazil, Mexico and South Africa. Leaders of those nations are due to meet with the G-8 leaders on Wednesday.(**)

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