G8 to tackle illegal timber trade
March 21, 2005
Environment and development ministers from the G8 group of leading countries have committed themselves to tackling the problem of illegal logging.
They have also agreed that action is needed to protect Africa from the consequences of climate change.
Their statement of intent came at the end of a meeting in Derby, UK, and will be considered at the G8 summit in July.
Britain's Environment Secretary, Margaret Beckett, said there had been "an interesting dialogue".
"What was most noticeable was the degree to which everyone was singing from the same hymn-sheet," she told reporters at the conclusion of the two-day meeting.
However, other delegates spoke of dissent behind the scenes, with the United States delegation determined to block any mention of linkages between climate change and issues such as trade and agricultural subsidies.
"Unfortunately there has been an apparently concerted effort by the United States to try to isolate climate change," Dr Benito Mueller, of the Oxford Institute of Energy Studies, told the BBC News website.
"So really, it is trying to 'ghetto-ise' climate change, which is very, very detrimental to the field."
Dr Mueller's comments were backed up by off-the-record conversations with officials from two other delegations.
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