G8 Nations Flunk Climate-Change Report Card

Brian Handwerk
for National Geographic News

July 5, 2005

The international conservation organization World Wildlife Fund (WWF)
has issued "G8 Climate Scorecards" to grade the world's top economies on
their efforts to address the climate change brought about by greenhouse
gas emissions.

The United States ranked at the bottom of its class, but the conservation organization warns that the other members of the Group of Eight major industrialized nations are also failing to make the grade.

"All the G8 are far from securing a safe and stable climate," says Jennifer Morgan, director of WWF's Global Climate Change Programme. "With clear differences in the level of commitment and efforts to solve the climate crisis, no single country could truly claim to be a climate leader."

The scorecards measure efforts at reducing emissions, boosting renewable energies, and improving energy efficiency.

WWF calculated that the U.S. has the highest greenhouse gas emission rates among the G8 and that the nation derives some two thirds of its energy from coal and oil.

Under current policies, the report says, both problems will only increase.

"The Bush administration is not only failing to deal with the threat of climate change but is also actively trying to water down the G8's efforts on the issues," Morgan said. "If the U.S. is lagging behind, then it's time for them to be left behind."

Other climate and energy experts agree that the U.S. is failing to adequately address greenhouse gas emissions.

"There have been some notable efforts on the state level with mixed success," said Sarah Joy, a researcher at Stanford University's Program on Energy and Sustainable Development. "But the absence of federal management means that the U.S. just isn't making strides toward reducing emissions in terms of real numbers."

Of course, G8 economies are only part of the global warming puzzle. Developing nations like China, India, Brazil, South Africa, and Mexico—which were also scored in the WWF report—are rapidly growing greenhouse gas emitters. Their economic development could offset any environmental gains made in more industrialized nations.

EU Results Mixed

None of the G8 countries reached the highest range of possible grades. France, Germany, and the U.K. fared best. In some respects, however, their scores reflected unsustainable "one-off" occurrences driven by economic rather than environmental factors.

"The reductions that the EU has achieved over the past decade are largely attributable to circumstance rather than climate policy," said Elliot Diringer, a director for the Pew Center on Global Climate Change in Arlington, Virginia.

"In Germany following reunification, lots of inefficient factories were shut down in the east, which resulted in a 'bonus' reduction," Diringer explained. "In the U.K., a policy to phase out coal-fired electric production and replace it with natural gas has paid emissions dividends, but [that change] was largely driven by economics."

Germany was best at developing new renewable energy resources, WWF reported, growing nearly 2 percent since 1990. Only half of the G8 countries showed any growth in this category at all.

Canada, Italy, Japan, and Russia scored far lower in the overall rankings. The report found them lagging in their efforts to comply with the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, which mandated lower greenhouse emissions, as well as with the EU-stated goal of keeping the global rise in temperatures below 3.6°F (2°C) by 2050.

While the United States's greenhouse gas emissions grew by some 13 percent from 1990 to 2003, for example, Canada's went up 20 percent.

Similarly, the U.S. would need to reduce its emissions by 20 percent to meet Kyoto goals, though the country did not sign the protocol. Canada, a Kyoto signer, must implement a 26 percent cut to reach its goal.

G8 Climate Goals

While the G8 nations lag behind their goals, Pew's Diringer notes that most of the countries are, at minimum, looking to improve.

"It's important that they've set a target and are continually assessing their progress toward that target," he said.

Since the U.S. has not entered into accords like Kyoto, however, its goals remain strictly discretionary.

"In the U.S. we have only a voluntary goal that is more or less business as usual, because it allows emissions to continue growing pretty much at the present rate through 2012," he said.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair and French President Jacques Chirac have been outspoken in recent days about their desire to get the United States to embrace a strong international climate agreement. The issue will be on the agenda at this week's Group of Eight summit in Gleneagles, Scotland.

Prospects for such an agreement remain murky, though scientists in all G8 nations, including the United States, have warned that climate change is occurring and that governments should take action.

"The fact that Tony Blair has given the climate issue such a high priority at this year's summit is quite significant," Diringer said. "Putting it atop the G8 agenda elevates the issue and puts it before … top-level government actors."

"In terms of consciousness-raising alone it's quite significant," Diringer concluded. "But the prospects for achieving significant outcomes [through the summit] are unfortunately quite limited."

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