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What was achieved during the UK Presidency of the G8 in 2005?
The two themes of the UK G8 Presidency in 2005 were Africa and Climate
Change. The G8 summit was held at Gleneagles in Scotland from 6-8 July 2005. The
main outcomes are summarised below. The full text of the summit documents can be
found on the
2005 G8 website.
Africa
- A doubling of aid by 2010 - an extra $50 billion worldwide and $25 billion for Africa
- Writing off immediately the debts of 43 of the world’s poorest countries, most of which are in Africa (21 countries have received 100% debt relief so far, with $36 billion worth of debt written off. This could rise to over $50 billion as more countries qualify)
- Writing off $18 billion of Nigeria’s debt, in the biggest single debt deal ever
- A commitment to end all export subsidies and to reduce domestic subsidies, which distort trade
- Developing countries will “decide, plan and sequence their economic policies to fit with their own development strategies, for which they should be accountable to their people”
- As close as possible to universal access to HIV treatment by 2010
- Funding for treatment and bed nets to fight malaria, saving the lives of over 600,000 children every year
- Full funding to totally eradicate polio from the world
- By 2015 all children will have access to good quality, free and compulsory education and to basic health care, free where a country chooses to provide it
- Up to an extra 25,000 trained peacekeeping troops, helping the Africa Union to better respond to security challenges like Darfur.
Climate Change
The G8 leaders agreed that climate change is happening now, that human activity is contributing to it, and that it could affect every part of the world. Global emissions must slow, peak and then decline, moving us towards a low-carbon economy. Unless global emissions of greenhouse gases are reduced and development is made more resilient to climate change, the gains made on African and global development are put at risk.
A package of measures was agreed to make energy generation and use more sustainable, and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. DFID will work with organisations like the World Bank and the African Development Bank to make sure that major investments in infrastructure or other energy intensive sectors are made more energy efficient. The G8 leaders agreed to put procedures in place to help manage the risks from climate change for donor-funded development investments.
A major focus is on supporting improvements in monitoring climate change in Africa to increase the availability of climate data. Also on improving Africa’s ability to use this data effectively for the planning needs of agriculture, water and healthcare at the local level.
How are we monitoring our progress on meeting these commitments?
The challenge after Gleneagles is to ensure that pledges made in 2005 are fully implemented. The Government is working closely with G8 and other developed country governments, as well as our partners in developing countries, to achieve this. The Gleneagles Implementation Plan sets out milestones the UK believes we need to meet to stay on track for delivery of the whole package agreed in 2005. This was first published in December 2005 and is updated regularly for Parliament.
The UK Government is determined that commitments made by G8 and other Governments will be followed up. To help track progress, the Government has published a number of reports:
- To coincide with the anniversary of the launch of the
(392 kb) in March 2006 on what the UK has been doing to take forward the Commission’s recommendations and to ensure G8 Gleneagles’ commitments are implemented.
- The Africa Partnership Forum, which was tasked by the G8 to monitor implementation of their commitments, as well as those made by other donors and African governments themselves. The UK is providing 20% of the funding for a new Support Unit, which will help the Forum play this monitoring role effectively.
- In July 2006, to mark the anniversary of Gleneagles, DFID published a short booklet: ‘G8 Gleneagles: One Year On’, which highlights progress by the international community in twelve areas – from aid and debt cancellation to fighting disease and promoting business.
- Also in July 2006, DFID launched its new White Paper on International Development, 'Eliminating world poverty: making governance work for the poor'. The White Paper sets out DFID’s priorities and explains how we will work with the rest of UK Government, partner governments, international organisations, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), academics and the private sector to fulfil the promises made in 2005 to significantly reduce world poverty.
Further information
Last updated: 27 April 2007