G8 finance ministers face credibility test: Oxfam
The credibility of finance ministers from the G8 rich nations meeting in Japan is on the line as soaring food prices and climate change threaten to worsen poverty, aid agency Oxfam said on Friday.
By Agencies |
OSAKA: The credibility of finance ministers from the G8 rich nations meeting in Japan is on the line as soaring food prices and climate change threaten to worsen poverty, aid agency Oxfam said on Friday.
The top priority for the Group of Eight (G8) ministers should be to fill a shortfall of $30 billion in overseas aid as failure to do so would cost five million lives, Oxfam said based on its own calculations.
The agency released a report setting an agenda for rich nations on how to tackle the food crisis, climate change and poverty. Its author Max Lawson said the finance ministers had to propose ambitious aid increases.
"With an economic recession looming, they must not make the poor pay the price by reneging on their aid promises," he said in a statement.
G8 leaders should ensure that recent aid pledged to help the poor with high food prices comes on top of existing commitments, Oxfam said.
It added that money promised to help poor communities cope with the effects of global warming often came from existing aid budgets.
A UN summit last week vowed to take "urgent" action over the global food crisis, pledging $6.5 billion in aid following a doubling in food prices in three years that has sparked unrest in many countries.
Oxfam urged a freezing of biofuel targets to stop farmland being diverted away from food production, more aid spending from Japan, France and Germany and urgent action to cut the greenhouse gas emissions blamed for global warming.
The ministers from the G8 grouping of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the US and Russia are meeting Friday and Saturday as surging inflation due to high food and crude oil costs threatens the global economy.a
The top priority for the Group of Eight (G8) ministers should be to fill a shortfall of $30 billion in overseas aid as failure to do so would cost five million lives, Oxfam said based on its own calculations.
The agency released a report setting an agenda for rich nations on how to tackle the food crisis, climate change and poverty. Its author Max Lawson said the finance ministers had to propose ambitious aid increases.
"With an economic recession looming, they must not make the poor pay the price by reneging on their aid promises," he said in a statement.
G8 leaders should ensure that recent aid pledged to help the poor with high food prices comes on top of existing commitments, Oxfam said.
It added that money promised to help poor communities cope with the effects of global warming often came from existing aid budgets.
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A UN summit last week vowed to take "urgent" action over the global food crisis, pledging $6.5 billion in aid following a doubling in food prices in three years that has sparked unrest in many countries.
Oxfam urged a freezing of biofuel targets to stop farmland being diverted away from food production, more aid spending from Japan, France and Germany and urgent action to cut the greenhouse gas emissions blamed for global warming.
The ministers from the G8 grouping of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the US and Russia are meeting Friday and Saturday as surging inflation due to high food and crude oil costs threatens the global economy.a
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