G8 Summit (Hansard, 23 July 2001)

§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Baroness Amos)

The Prime Minister and other leaders of the G8 met in Genoa from 20 to 22 July.

Television and newspaper coverage of the summit was dominated by the violence, vandalism and a tragic loss of life in Genoa's streets.

In their concluding statement, the Prime Minister and his G8 colleagues deplored the violence and vandalism the people of Genoa had to endure during the summit.

They made clear they would defend the right of peaceful protesters to have their voices heard.

But, equally, as democratically elected leaders they made clear they could not and would not accept that a small unrepresentative minority should be allowed to disrupt their discussions through violence on the key issues affecting the world.

Leaders discussed the prospects for the global economy. They expressed cautious optimism that, despite the current slowdown, sound economic fundamentals would bring a resumption of stronger growth.

They expressed strong support for Prime Minister Koizumi's reform programme in Japan, and agreed on the importance of launching a new round of negotiations in the World Trade Organisation later this year at the ministerial meeting in Doha. They each 162WA pledged their personal engagement to make sure this was successfully achieved.

The Government believe a new trade round would provide a significant boost to confidence in the world economy. It has been estimated that a truly liberalising round could boost global income by some $400 billion a year.

Of this, between $100 billion and $150 billion could go to developing countries. G8 leaders agreed that increased trade, and particularly access to markets in the developed world, was the single biggest thing we could do to help their economies.

G8 leaders met in Genoa with leaders of five African countries, as well as representatives of Latin America and Asia. With the Prime Minister's strong personal encouragement, the G8 welcomed the new readiness among African leaders to take responsibility for resolving the problems of their own continent.

They agreed to appoint senior personal representatives to meet with the leaders of the New African Initiative and to work up a concrete plan of action between now and next year's summit in Canada.

G8 leaders pledged to press ahead with the implementation of the debt relief initiative agreed at their Cologne summit in 1999, which has slowly brought debt relief of some $53 billion to some of the world's poorest countries. They agreed to make particular efforts to help those countries affected by conflict to come forward for relief under this programme and to ensure the sustainability of the reduced debt burdens of those countries which have already benefited from it.

The G8 announced that they would together be making an initial contribution of $1.3 billion to the new Global Fund to fight HIV/AIDS, Malaria and Tuberculosis and welcomed a further $500 million pledged by other partners. The Government have pledged $200 million to this effort.

G8 leaders expressed their determination to press forward, in consultation with the United Nations and other interested stakeholders, to ensure this fund is operational by the end of this year.

They also welcomed recent steps by the pharmaceutical industry to make drugs more affordable in the poorest countries. The Government have themselves established a dialogue with industry here in Britain to see what more can be done and how the Government could help.

G8 leaders had an open and constructive discussion on the environment, in particular on climate change. They recognised that this is a pressing issue requiring a global solution. They firmly agreed on the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. And they made clear each of their governments would participate constructively in the current negotiations in Bonn on the Kyoto Protocol, helping to pave the way for the successful conclusion of those negotiations earlier today.

Leaders welcomed the work that was set in hand at last year's summit in Okinawa on ways to promote 163WA greater use of renewable energy and to promote the use of information and communications technology in developing countries.

They pledged to continue efforts to promote a clear understanding by the public of food safety benefits and risks. They agreed on the need to provide consumers with relevant information on the safety of food products, based on independent scientific advice, sound risk analysis and the latest research developments.

The G8 welcomed the outcome of the recent conference the Government organised in Bangkok on new biotechnology food and crops and agreed to ask relevant international bodies to pursue its recommendations.

They discussed the situation in the Middle East, where they called for immediate action to end violence and terrorism. They also discussed Macedonia and urged all parties there to display maximum responsibility so as to achieve rapid success in the current political dialogue.

At the conclusion of the summit on 22 July, the Prime Minister and his G8 colleagues accepted the invitation of the Canadian Prime Minister to meet next year on 26 to 28 June in Alberta.

But G8 leaders unanimously agreed that the work of the G8 must and will go on.

I have today placed in the Library of the House copies of the G7 and G8 communiqués, the reports from the task forces on renewable energy and the digital divide, the statements made concerning the Middle East and Macedonia and the Genoa Plan for Africa.