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G8 SUMMIT: Alarm Bells to Ring Over Climate Change

Sanjay Suri

LONDON, Jun 25 2005 (IPS) - Alarm bells will ring out during the Group of Eight (G8) summit next month to wake up world leaders to take action against climate change.

The environment group Friends of the Earth International has issued a call for people to ring bells at 13.45 hours (local time) on July 7 at the summit venue in Gleneagles, Scotland, and around the world “to wake the G8 leaders up to the fact that time is running out to tackle climate injustice.”

The time 13.45 hours has been chosen because Friends of the Earth says that the G8, the leading industrialised nations, represent just 13 percent of the world population but throw up 45 percent of so-called greenhouse gas emissions.

These emissions containing principally carbon dioxide and methane lead to a warming of the atmosphere which is disrupting climate patterns – with grave environmental, political, economic and social consequences.

“Over the years G8 has moved to places that are inaccessible for people to get to,” Duncan McLaren, chief executive of Friends of the Earth Scotland, told IPS. “Around Gleneagles they are setting up exclusion zones, and the ability of people to physically protest is being restricted. So this is a way for people to sound the alarm because they can’t get to a place, and it can be a powerful message.”

The inaccessibility of summit venues has become a problem for “individuals who feel powerless to do anything, but who want to see action,” McLaren said. “This is only a small contribution for an individual to make, but people recognize that acting together, this is one way they can do something to save the world from the consequences of climate change.”

At their retreat in Gleneagles the G8 leaders (from Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and United States) may not hear the bells, but much of the world will in response to the call by Friends of the Earth International.

And the G8 leaders will know who all will be ringing the bells. These will include the Church of Scotland, and that means the bells can ring out also in the little town Auchterarder next to the Gleneagles hotel where the summit will be held Jul. 6-8.

The Church of Scotland decided at its general assembly held in the capital, Edinburgh, earlier this month that they would particularly seek a response from the local church at Auchterarder. Several meetings have been planned at the church to deliver messages to G8 leaders to take action on climate change and to reduce poverty.

“The G8 leaders are unlikely to venture far from Gleneagles when they meet there in July,” Meena Raman, chair of Friends of the Earth International (FoEI), said in a statement. “But we can make sure they hear our demands. Join in. Let everyone know you care, and help make world leaders take responsibility for the problems they have caused.”

In London, St. Paul’s Cathedral, the landmark church of the Church of England, will also ring its bells at the time. They will carry a strong message of Christian support for the environmentalists trying to make their case heard at the G8 summit.

FoEI has arranged for people to ring the bell virtually by registering their support through a website set up for the purpose (www.climatealarm.org).

The alarm appeal is being backed by several church groups, civil society groups and environmentalists around the world, FoEI said in a statement. The group Islamic Relief is calling for prayers to be held in mosques at the time.

“Most of the protest activities are being held in the G8 countries,” McLaren said. “But we are getting strong response also from Brazil, Slovakia, countries in Africa, Peru, Argentina, Hong Kong and many other places.”

Friends of the Earth wants to see a commitment from the G8 leaders that global average temperatures must not be allowed to rise two degrees centigrade higher than pre-industrial levels. They want an agreement by G8 nations for “specific, substantial and timetabled” cuts in their domestic emissions of greenhouse gases.

The group is demanding also an agreement that offers “innovative and substantial financing mechanisms to increase and diversify the energy mix” and “urgent assistance for those developing countries already facing the devastating effects of climate change.”