The World's Other Superpower Awakens
In the lead up to the Iraq war, when the overwhelming majority of the world's population stood in opposition to the Bush administration's rush to war in Iraq, the New York Times observed that there are now two superpowers on our planet: "the United States and world public opinion."
Today, as the eight most influential men in the world -- the heads of state of the wealthy G8 industrialized nations -- meet in Gleneagles, Scotland, that "other superpower" has reemerged.
Thanks in large part to Saturday's successful Live8 concerts, millions are focused on the G8 conference with high hopes for what can be achieved: comprehensive, practical, powerful steps towards relieving African poverty and reversing global warming. That poverty and climate change are at the top of the agenda is itself a notable victory, the result of years of efforts by men and women whose names you'll never find in the history books. But now the ball has been handed to the G8 leaders, and President Bush in particular. Success or failure at this critical turning point is in their hands.
(Be part of this historic moment -- sign the ONE Declaration to Make Poverty History now.)
IT'S ABOUT AFRICA...: "For a rare moment," Brookings scholar Susan Rice writes, "global poverty reduction is near the top of the international agenda. It's hip. It's moral. And it's smart policy." Indeed: there is today widespread agreement that developed nations, and the United States in particular, must commit more targeted aid to Africa; that debt relief efforts must be deeper and faster; and that our global trading system must be reformed to facilitate Africa's access to fair markets, particularly regarding agriculture. But the bar should not be set there. Global leaders can't just check a box on African poverty and global warming -- they are problems that developed over decades, and will require multi-year commitments to resolve. Moreover, achieving this long-term commitment will only be possible when policymakers begin treating global poverty and climate change as core national security and economic concerns, rather than peripheral "add-ons," as American Progress has argued in our national security strategy, Integrated Power.
...IT'S ABOUT GLOBAL WARMING...: Word from Scotland is also positive on the climate change front. Although President Bush remains steadfastly opposed to the Kyoto Accord, the Guardian reports that "the US has moved enough for [British Prime Minister Tony] Blair to claim that a consensus has been reached" on other significant steps to counter global warming. This is important, for the choice has never been between accepting Kyoto or doing nothing. As a new report from American Progress shows, there are a number of policies the U.S. and the rest of the G8 countries could take today, in partnership with the world's largest developing world economies, to reduce emisssions. The report recommends deploying new technologies (to capture carbon dioxide from coal-fired utilities, increase production of biofuels, and promote the penetration of hybrid vehicles) and developing a market-based emissions trading program.
...AND THE LINKS BETWEEN THE TWO: Though Africa and climate change are often treated as distinct issues, the truth is more complicated. Last month, a large coalition of development and environmental groups released a study detailing how some of the most harmful effects of global warming will fall disproportionately on those nations that contributed to it least, and that are the least able to adapt to protect themselves. As the Ugandan paper The New Vision noted this past weekend, President Bush's reluctance to tackle climate change is "a tragedy for the whole world, Africa and the United States included." "Any benefit from extra aid to Africa," The New Vision adds, "will be lost if climate change accelerates further and makes the agricultural environment in Africa even more difficult."
THE WORLD IS WAITING: And it's not just Africa. Across the world, and in the United States, people are calling for action. The South China Post says world leaders "must rise up to the challenge of reducing global poverty." A paper in Kenya demands that the playing ground be made level "so that trade can be carried out freely and for mutual benefit." And in the United States, public opinion is crystal clear. A poll published yesterday by the Program on International Policy Attitudes (PIPA) found that an "overwhelming majority of Americans supports the US agreeing to limit greenhouse gas emissions in concert with other members of the G8 Summit." A stunning 94 percent of Americans said the U.S. "should limit its greenhouse gases at least as much as the other developed countries do on average." Another new study shows that 65 percent believe the Bush administration "should commit to spend seven-tenths of one percent of their GDP to address world poverty, especially in Africa" -- including majorities of both Republicans and Democrats. (Renowned economist Jeffrey Sachs gives the essential breakdown of U.S. aid to Africa -- what it is now, what it could be, and what it should be -- in his G8 blog hosted by the Financial Times.) We have formed, quite clearly, a global consensus. Now the G8 leaders must act. As Live8 organizer Bob Geldof entreated on Saturday, "Do not disappoint us, do not create a generation of cynics, do not betray the desires of billions and the hopes of the poorest of our world."
Today, as the eight most influential men in the world -- the heads of state of the wealthy G8 industrialized nations -- meet in Gleneagles, Scotland, that "other superpower" has reemerged.
Thanks in large part to Saturday's successful Live8 concerts, millions are focused on the G8 conference with high hopes for what can be achieved: comprehensive, practical, powerful steps towards relieving African poverty and reversing global warming. That poverty and climate change are at the top of the agenda is itself a notable victory, the result of years of efforts by men and women whose names you'll never find in the history books. But now the ball has been handed to the G8 leaders, and President Bush in particular. Success or failure at this critical turning point is in their hands.
(Be part of this historic moment -- sign the ONE Declaration to Make Poverty History now.)
IT'S ABOUT AFRICA...: "For a rare moment," Brookings scholar Susan Rice writes, "global poverty reduction is near the top of the international agenda. It's hip. It's moral. And it's smart policy." Indeed: there is today widespread agreement that developed nations, and the United States in particular, must commit more targeted aid to Africa; that debt relief efforts must be deeper and faster; and that our global trading system must be reformed to facilitate Africa's access to fair markets, particularly regarding agriculture. But the bar should not be set there. Global leaders can't just check a box on African poverty and global warming -- they are problems that developed over decades, and will require multi-year commitments to resolve. Moreover, achieving this long-term commitment will only be possible when policymakers begin treating global poverty and climate change as core national security and economic concerns, rather than peripheral "add-ons," as American Progress has argued in our national security strategy, Integrated Power.
...IT'S ABOUT GLOBAL WARMING...: Word from Scotland is also positive on the climate change front. Although President Bush remains steadfastly opposed to the Kyoto Accord, the Guardian reports that "the US has moved enough for [British Prime Minister Tony] Blair to claim that a consensus has been reached" on other significant steps to counter global warming. This is important, for the choice has never been between accepting Kyoto or doing nothing. As a new report from American Progress shows, there are a number of policies the U.S. and the rest of the G8 countries could take today, in partnership with the world's largest developing world economies, to reduce emisssions. The report recommends deploying new technologies (to capture carbon dioxide from coal-fired utilities, increase production of biofuels, and promote the penetration of hybrid vehicles) and developing a market-based emissions trading program.
...AND THE LINKS BETWEEN THE TWO: Though Africa and climate change are often treated as distinct issues, the truth is more complicated. Last month, a large coalition of development and environmental groups released a study detailing how some of the most harmful effects of global warming will fall disproportionately on those nations that contributed to it least, and that are the least able to adapt to protect themselves. As the Ugandan paper The New Vision noted this past weekend, President Bush's reluctance to tackle climate change is "a tragedy for the whole world, Africa and the United States included." "Any benefit from extra aid to Africa," The New Vision adds, "will be lost if climate change accelerates further and makes the agricultural environment in Africa even more difficult."
THE WORLD IS WAITING: And it's not just Africa. Across the world, and in the United States, people are calling for action. The South China Post says world leaders "must rise up to the challenge of reducing global poverty." A paper in Kenya demands that the playing ground be made level "so that trade can be carried out freely and for mutual benefit." And in the United States, public opinion is crystal clear. A poll published yesterday by the Program on International Policy Attitudes (PIPA) found that an "overwhelming majority of Americans supports the US agreeing to limit greenhouse gas emissions in concert with other members of the G8 Summit." A stunning 94 percent of Americans said the U.S. "should limit its greenhouse gases at least as much as the other developed countries do on average." Another new study shows that 65 percent believe the Bush administration "should commit to spend seven-tenths of one percent of their GDP to address world poverty, especially in Africa" -- including majorities of both Republicans and Democrats. (Renowned economist Jeffrey Sachs gives the essential breakdown of U.S. aid to Africa -- what it is now, what it could be, and what it should be -- in his G8 blog hosted by the Financial Times.) We have formed, quite clearly, a global consensus. Now the G8 leaders must act. As Live8 organizer Bob Geldof entreated on Saturday, "Do not disappoint us, do not create a generation of cynics, do not betray the desires of billions and the hopes of the poorest of our world."
posted by T. Scott Brineman at 6:41 PM
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