G8 Leaders Commit to Clean Energy Technologies at Summit

July 13, 2005

Leaders of the world's eight largest industrialized nations have adopted a 38-point plan of action to address the related issues of climate change, clean energy, and sustainable development. During early July's two-day summit in Gleneagles, Scotland, the Group of Eight (G8)—comprising Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States—agreed that climate change is a serious and long-term challenge that has the potential to affect every part of the globe, and acknowledged that the use of energy from fossil fuels, and other human activities, contribute in large part to increases in greenhouse gases associated with the warming of Earth's surface. The G8 statement noted that "we know enough to act now to put ourselves on a path to slow and, as the science justifies, stop and then reverse the growth of greenhouse gases."

The G8 agreed to a plan of action that calls for the promotion of greater energy efficiency in buildings, appliances, surface transport, aviation, industry, power generation, and other sectors. The agreement also calls for further efforts to promote renewable energy technologies and hydrogen technologies. Notable among those efforts is the G8's plan to launch a Global Bioenergy Partnership to support biomass and biofuels deployment. See the agreement (PDF 327 KB) and the related White House fact sheets on the G8 Summit and climate change. Download Adobe Reader.