Audio in collaboration with Pacifica Radio

SEEN's Diary from Gleneagles

SEEN Director Daphne Wysham was one of only a handful of civil society representatives inside the G-8 Summit in Gleneagles, Scotland from July 6-8, 2005. Read, see, and hear her reports and interviews from this highly-charged meeting, in reverse chronological order...

Additional resources:

At the G-8 Summit, SEEN joined over 120 other organizations representing tens of millions of people from 43+ countries in demanding climate and debt justice. Read the press release and letter here.

Also, check out these important studies released at the summit:

• Oil Change International's Drilling Into Debt
• Jubilee USA's First Step on a Long Journey
• The Working Group on Climate Change and Development's Africa: Up in Smoke?
• World Resource Institute's Mainstreaming Climate Change at the Multilateral Development Banks
• Transnational Institute's Hoodwinked in the Hothouse
• Raised Voices: Filmed testimonies from the global South on the impacts of the G8

July 8, 2005

(7:04 p.m.) Daphne's last update:

"Those of us working on climate change are hardly celebrating--we're fuming."

Just came from the debt/Africa conference, where Bono, Bob Geldof and others spoke on the aid and debt package for Africa.

They were celebrating the number of lives that will be saved by this agreement, while acknowledging we have a lot further to go. Or, as Bono said, "We've climbed a mountain only to realize we have a much higher mountain to climb." But it does seem that the Make Poverty History and Jubilee campaigns have at least had an impact in terms of keeping the issue of the 30,000 people dying a day due to preventable diseases front and center on the agenda of this meeting.

The fact that this is ultimately due to debt servicing, debt made worse by the World Bank, IMF and other development banks--which are playing a prominent role here in the various "solutions" being proposed here--that ironic fact has been largely lost. But it wasn't for lack of trying; I did my best as did a few other NGOs lucky enough to be allowed the access to the press here at the G8.

(It wasn't always this way. I remember the Denver G7 meeting in 1997 when not only could any NGO come, but we could ask questions directly of the G7 leaders. All of that changed in 1998, and it has gotten progressively more difficult for NGOs to get their varied messages across--a serious loss for the media and the general public. I would say less than a dozen of the NGOs here are from the global South, despite the fact that issues of grave concern to them were being discussed here.)

So, in a nutshell, I think poverty/development NGOs have a little bit to celebrate.... But those of us working on climate change are hardly celebrating--we're fuming.

Not only is it considered a "breakthrough" that Bush has finally admitted that climate change exists, is caused by human activity, and must urgently be reversed, but the World Bank -- which invests over 17 times as much in fossil fuels as in renewables and energy efficiency and is headed up by none other than the architect of the Iraq war, Paul Wolfowitz -- is now going to be entrusted with the task of channelling a few hundred million dollars to clean energy and efficiency, and is "invited to increase dialogue with borrowers on energy issues and put forward specific proposals at their annual meeting."

This is the same World Bank that has Halliburton as its number one energy client, the same World Bank that helped Enron scale its global heights, the same World Bank that has pushed oil and gas pipelines through countries where human rights abuses are a way of life, where repressive regimes are treated as partners rather than pariahs.

Then there's the schizophrenia of the G8 -- saying they want action on climate change on the one hand, then urging "oil-producing countries to take all necessary steps to foster a favourable investment climate sufficient to support strong global economic growth." Sorry, you can't have both.

It was nice to see Bono acknowledge that it was the passion and compassion of millions of people around the world that got us the small distance we have come on Africa and debt issues. The "heat" from the street surely made a difference. But we in the US now need to place that same heat on the streets regarding our own enormous contribution to climate change and poverty, both at home and via our investments abroad, if we are going to avoid the heat that is to come.

Kumi Naidoo of Global Call To Action Against Poverty, Bono, Bob Geldof at the G8 Summit in Gleneagles, Scotland, July 8, 2005. Photo (c) Daphne Wysham/SEEN, 2005. Do not reprint or repost without permission.

(7:02 p.m.) A perfect marriage: Paul Wolfowitz (the man who "reconstructed" Iraq) and the G-8's energy wrecking ball. Here's the new World Bank president on the G-8 agreement, which puts him at the helm of not only global development but also climate futures:

Paul Wolfowitz's reaction, according to the BBC:

"The G8 Summit at Gleneagles was a success because a partnership was forged between African leaders and leaders of the developed world," said Paul Wolfowitz, president of the World Bank. "This (partnership) includes additional aid and debt relief, as well as trade, improved governance, transparency and accountability.

"On Africa, leaders have asked the Bank to help ensure that the sizeable increase in aid is successfully coordinated and implemented. The goal is to provide a framework through which additional resources can be delivered effectively and performance can be measured and evaluated - thus guaranteeing better results. That means assistance for performance and results.

"On climate management, the Bank has been asked to create a new framework for mobilising investment in clean energy and development. A first high-level meeting on this is scheduled to be hosted in Britain on 1 November by Prime Minister Blair and the World Bank Group."

(5:32 p.m.) Here's what a World Bank-distributed "Press Review" says about the institution's centrality in the G8 agreement:

"The Independent and the Birmingham Post (UK) write that the World Bank is to play a frontline role in the fight against global warming under a plan expected to be agreed at the G8 Summit. The Bank would offer financial incentives to developing countries to cut their greenhouse gas emissions and adopt "clean" technologies. But the move could provoke controversy since US companies, which are in the lead in this new industry, will benefit most from the Bank’s grants, writes the daily. The proposal is designed partly to persuade the US President George Bush to sign up to a firmer than expected declaration on climate change. Gordon Brown, the UK Chancellor, disclosed the proposal Wednesday night, saying the Bank would "bring together" the US, Europe and other nations for talks on tackling the problem. "I think the World Bank will put up the money for this," he said. The Financial Times also notes that the World Bank will also do more to ensure developing countries gain access to low carbon emission technology, though no funding for this has been specified."

Thanks to Janneke Bruil of Friends of the Earth International for re-distributing.

(4:45 p.m.) Official text of the G8 Gleneagles 2005 agreement on Climate Change, Clean Energy and Sustainable Development. Click here for pdf version. Thanks to Hans Verolme of WWF-US for distributing the text. (Key phrase: "The World Bank will take a leadership role in creating an new framework for clean energy and development, including investment and financing.")

(3:10 p.m.) New audio uploaded: closing statements by United Kingdom Prime Minister Tony Blair and Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo. (click to listen to mp3, 05:58)

(12:25 p.m.) Daphne, Antonio Tricarico (CRBM), and Tony Juniper (Friends of the Earth UK) held a press conference releasing the civil society demands. Over 30 media reps attended. They also discussed details of a leaked draft action plan that places the World Bank at the center of the G8's global energy manifesto. Read the new press release distributed at Gleneagles today.

(early morning) Three interviews with civil society leaders are now available. Each leader is based in London, and they reflect on what the London bombings mean for them personally and for the issues being debated at Gleneagles. Hear Daphne interview:

• Stephen Rand, co-chair of the Jubilee Debt Campaign (click to listen to mp3, 07:22)
• Simon Retallack, research fellow at the Institute for Public Policy Research (click to listen to mp3, 04:22)
• Tony Juniper, executive director of Friends of the Earth UK (click to listen to mp3, 04:13)

July 7, 2005

(7:20 p.m.) Spanish versions of the civil society letter and press release are now on-line. Click here to view the Spanish language press release and letter.

Also, new interviews of London-based civil society representatives by Daphne, including reaction to the London transport bombings, will be available here soon.

(3 p.m.)

SEEN has obtained a copy of a strong statement by developing countries. The joint declaration of the heads of state of Brazil, China, India, Mexico and South Africa participating in the G8 summit notes the need to strengthen "the role of South-South cooperation... to meet the challenges arising from globalization, and to promote the common interest of developing countries."

The heads of state also decry "unsustainable production and consumption patterns in the industrialized countries" and call for "a new paradigm for international cooperation (that) must ensure that technologies with a positive impact on climate change are both accessible and affordable to developing countries."

Click here for a pdf version of the statement.

(Midday)

Daphne has posted unedited audio of PM Tony Blair's reaction to the explosions in London (03:15 segment), followed by her commentary (01:46 segment). "Here at the G8 meeting, things have entered into a state of suspended animation," she reports. "Today, the focus was to be on climate change, tomorrow on Africa. Ideally, these situations will not be pushed off yet again." MP3 AUDIO, COURTESY OF PACIFICA RADIO NEWS.

(10:58 a.m.)

Well, understandably, the journalists have dropped everything and are now focusing on the various bus and underground explosions that have gone off in London. Apparently, there have been several casualties in the underground explosion, and bombs are continuing to go off in the heavily touristed areas of London. This is considered to be a coordinated terrorist attack, and will likely mean Blair will leave the G8 meeting to deal with the situation. Not sure what this means for the entire G8 agenda from here on out.

(10:23 a.m.)

Read the press release and letter released this morning by a broad coalition of environment, development, religious, and human rights organizations.

July 6, 2005

Today's audio commentary by Daphne Wysham for Pacifica Radio News: Click here to listen (mp3). Daphne discusses the G8 protests, helicopters, debt, climate change, and the World Bank. (4min:24sec)

(9:01 p.m.) Police in the G8 press center, Gleneagles, Scotland.

Photo by Daphne Wysham/SEEN

Hi, all.

I'm back at my laptop here at the press center. Will have to leave soon so I can wake up and catch the 5 a.m. bus to make sure I get here by 9 for press conferences.

Things have calmed down a bit as the journalists and NGOs take a break for some dinner, sipping wine and Scotch, tasting smoked salmon, clotted cream, Scottish shortbreads, and other local delights while bagpipers play in the background.

But this morning and all afternoon the press room was literally shaking with helicopters hovering so close overhead, this canvas-covered press tent was vibrating. Police were clashing with protestors who had breached the perimeter a mere quarter mile away. The police were unprepared in numbers, apparently, so they began sending in Chinook helicopters--the kind with two rotors whirring overhead that we in Washington often see when the president is arriving at the White House--but these weren't bringing G8 leaders. They landed close by, and as their doors lowered to the ground, out ran maybe 50 police in formation, garbed in fluorescent green jackets, wielding shields and batons.

The protestors had earlier blocked traffic which came to a standstill, despite a very circuitous route we took to the press center in Gleneagles to avoid just such incidents. The protestors were certainly discouraged that their approved protest of nearly 100,000 marching for full debt cancellation and action on climate change and African poverty had been cancelled at the last minute, due to violence between the police and protestors. In the past, NGOs have reported that police acted as provocateurs as a way of rounding up protesters. Not sure what happened in this case, as I wasn't there. But I do know that the security at this G8 is unprecedented in the 8 or more years I've been monitoring them. Police are walking past the press tables armed with machine guns. Even the techies here who help with computer difficulties are police. (See photo of police with machine guns attached.)

We see on the TV screens that the Queen of England and Prince Philip are now greeting the G8 leaders and their wives. Only a handpicked pool reporters and photographers are allowed anywhere near the G8 leaders. Tonight the Queen and Prince depart, and tomorrow leaders from Brazil, China, India, Mexico and South Africa arrive together with the heads of the IEA, World Bank, IMF, UN, and WTO. They'll be holding press conferences every few hours, posing in groups photo shoots, then most of them fly off tomorrow evening.

On Friday, the leaders of Algeria, Ethiopia, Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, and Tanzania and the head of the African Union, the IMF, World Bank, and UN arrive again at Gleneagles Hotel.

Certainly, George W. Bush and former Pentagon undersecretary and architect of the Iraq war, Paul Wolfowitz, now at the helm of the World Bank in the same room with Jacques Chirac, Vladimir Putin, and other opponents of the war, things should get a bit, um, interesting. But count on the group photo opportunities making everyone look like one, big, multi-cultural happy family.

On climate, the amazing thing is what remains bracketed at this point. For example, why should the following be even up for debate? "Climate change is a serious and long-term challenge that has the potential to affect every part of the globe. There is now strong evidence that significant global warming is occurring and that human activity is contributing to this warming."

...Or this?: "Those of us who have ratified the Kyoto Protocol welcome its entry into force and will work to make it a success."

I scratch my head, since the US has ratified the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, if not the Kyoto Protocol. And certainly that document has us signing on to the fact that climate change is a serious challenge. The U.S. has made itself the laughing stock of the world with these sorts of maneuvers--clearly representing the interests of Exxon-Mobil more than those of the American people and the poorest around the world who will suffer the worst consequences as the planet warms at an unprecedented rate, up to 10 degrees over the next century.

It took us 18,000 years to emerge from the Ice Age, and that was a 9 degree shift. Imagine what 10 degrees in 100 years will do. In Scotland, there have been two tornadoes just in the last few weeks, a rarity at any time. You don't need to look far to see strange weather everywhere.

The fact that the World Bank, which finances fossil fuel projects to the tune of $2 billion a year, now has a president who is pounding his chest with pride over the "hundreds of millions of dollars" he has arranged to finance clean energy and energy efficiency projects in the global South, while hundreds of billions are spent on a war in Iraq he helped design and implement is beyond ironic. It's profoundly sad.

(8:17 p.m.) Daphne working in the press center.

(6:04 p.m.)

SEEN is well-positioned to tackle all the top topics - IFIs, ECAs, climate and debt - being discussed here.... Tomorrow at 3, the G8 climate text will be released... Drafts of the summit communique look totally bonkers -- they simultaneously say we need to deal with climate and lower oil prices by subsidizing precisely what causes climate change.

(4:41 p.m.)

Well, after a four-hour bus ride, I've arrived in Gleneagles, Scotland, from Edinburgh. The 100,000-strong protest was "cancelled" at the last minute due to violence. Not sure who triggered what. Protestors are saying police behavior was appalling. I'm certain the police are saying the same. Right now a riot is underway just down the road as the protestors have breached the "ring of steel" surrounding the fortress hotel at Gleneagles. Helicopters are circling our heads shaking this makeshift circus-like tent they have set up here for the media. The screening just to get in here is worse than Dulles, worse than any screening I've gone through. The police are everywhere.

I'll keep this short since I'm working on a bunch of releases on the debt/climate/Africa connnection. In a nutshell, it's all a charade cloaked as a triumphant victory for climate and the poor.