G8 leaders agree on S&T action plan for sustainable development
On 3 June, during the final day of their summit in Evian, France, leaders of the G8 countries approved a science and technology (S&T) action plan aimed at promoting global sustainable development. In a joint statement by the eight Heads of State and Government, who include the leaders of France, Germany, Italy and the UK, the G8 countries recognised the need 'to support the development of cleaner, sustainable and more efficient technologies'. 'Cooperative scientific research on transformational technologies offers [the] potential to improve public health by cutting pollution and [reducing] greenhouse emissions to address the challenge of global climate change,' the statement reads. The leaders acknowledged that developing countries require help to build and strengthen their capacity to generate knowledge for sustainable development, saying: 'We reaffirm our commitment made at the WSSD [world summit on sustainable development] to assist them through international cooperation in enhancing their research capabilities.' The action plan drawn up to achieve these goals seeks to focus on three key areas which, the statement says, present great opportunities for progress: coordination of global observation strategies; cleaner, sustainable and more efficient energy use; and agricultural sustainability, productivity and biodiversity conservation. In the area of global observation, the action plan envisages a closer coordination of strategies over the next ten years in order to minimise data gaps, and proposes measures to improve the reporting and archiving of observational data at a global level. In order to speed up the switch to cleaner energy technologies, the eight developed nations pledge to 'stimulate fundamental research in renewable energies' such as solar power and biomass, to share research results and promote emerging technologies, accelerate the development of fuel cell and hydrogen technology, and 'increase international cooperation and exchange of information in pre competitive research'. Developing countries will receive help to improve their agricultural productivity in a sustainable manner through G8 support for the consultative group for international agricultural research, whose task it is to disseminate the results of the latest agricultural research. The statement concludes by stating that: 'This group should also consider ways to assist developing countries that have their own research programmes in these three areas, inter alia by examining the possibility of opening our research programmes to third countries.'
Countries
Canada, Germany, France, Italy, Japan, Russia, United Kingdom, United States