How green was my G-8 summit? Not as green as can be

The Associated Press ,  Rusutsu, Japan   |  Wed, 07/09/2008 7:29 PM

At the Group of Eight summit, you can go for a spin in a hydrogen-fueled Mazda or tour a home powered by solar panels and a wind turbine. And don't forget to test the water-saving toilets, complete with seat-warmer and built-in bidet.

Japan has pledged an eco-friendly summit in the misty, verdant hills of its northernmost island, where leaders from major industrialized powers are setting goals on climate change and other issues. Organizers worked hard on the details, even using a stock of snow as a natural air conditioner for the media pavilion.

But despite all the green gadgets, there were goofs, environmental activists said.

The summit site and the media center are about 23 kilometers away from each other, which made for unnecessary road travel, though some of the shuttles used were fuel cell buses and other green vehicles.

In the media center, photocopied handouts were ubiquitous, and food came in plastic containers. Daniel Mittler, political adviser to Greenpeace International, pointed out a tray of watermelon, each thin slice encased in its own plastic snap-shut tray.

"I think (the summit) is a typical example of how environmental protection is still seen as something that you actively do," Mittler said. "You create a nice pavilion that is energy efficient. You showcase a car that's better than other cars. But it's not your normal reality. As soon as your normal reality creeps in, you go back to the bad old ways."

The summit could be worth all its carbon dioxide emissions if the G8 governments - the United States, Britain, France, Italy, Germany, Russia, Japan and Canada - make real progress, Mittler
said.

"But these meetings here are just spewing carbon, both in terms of traveling here and in terms of the decisions the leaders take," he said.

Leading industrial nations on Tuesday endorsed halving world emissions of greenhouse gases by 2050, stopping short of nearer-term targets.

But environmental groups quickly deemed the new G-8 pledge insufficient.

Environmentalists say Japan, United States and Canada have thwarted European efforts to make a real commitment to fighting emissions sooner, by 2020. Greenhouse gas emissions - generated mostly from burning fossil fuels for electricity generation and transportation - are blamed for global warming, predicted to cause ecological and humanitarian disasters if left unchecked.

Summit host Japan is off-track to meet its targets under the 1997 Kyoto Protocol in part because it is becoming more reliant on coal than expected, environmentalists say. On top of that, the country is "paralyzed" on global warming because of infighting between environment and trade officials, said Aldn Meyer, a climate change expert with the Union of Concerned Scientists.

Nonetheless, Japan put on its most eco-friendly face at the summit.

The media center was built of 95 percent reused or recycled materials. It uses a grass roof, snow as air conditioning, photovoltaic panels and natural lighting t reduce operating
energy by 40 percent, said Kouichi Mori, who planned the center's environmental showcase.

Outside, Japanese car companies took reporters out for quick spins in the latest cars - like Mazda's RX-8 Hydrogen RE, which can also run on gasoline if hydrogen is not available. Nearby,
guests were invited to remove their shoes, Japanese-style, to take a tour of a "zero emission" home.

In the media center's restrooms, signs in the stalls informed guests that the toilets, specially conceived for the summit, could save around 31 percent of water used by conventional models.

But the signs made mention of how much energy was needed for the toilets' luxury perks - including heating for the seat, a power deodorizer, a bidet and a faux flushing sound to drown out unseemly noises.(**)

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