G8 summits come and go and aside from watching some reporters speaking into a microphone from some world capital or another, most of us take little notice. There just does not seem much that they can do that will result in an immediate effect on most of our lives. However, the current summit, taking place in Japan, at the very least will be dealing with problems that do have an effect on many of our lives. The very frightening state of the global environment is one of those problems, as is the skyrocketing price of food the world over. And while the disgusting situation in Zimbabwe may not affect most people's daily lives, it has become an emotional and humanitarian issue around the world. On the food front, it is mandatory that this group of the world's richest nations must confront the effects of their own subsidies that have worked to neutralize the potential contributions of agriculture in less wealthy nations. They must also meet their pledge of 2005 to inject $50 billion into the food economy of the planet's poorer nations. There is no shortage of food in the world. There is more than enough to feed and keep healthy every man, woman and child alive. But poor distribution and selfish economic policies have prevented a significant chunk of the world from being adequately fed. Global warming is a fact, something the science-averse Bush administration has finally come to realize. It is time for the US to sign and abide by the Kyoto Treaty whatever the sacrifice might be. It must also press the developing economies of China and India to accept their fair share of the burden, no matter what the effects on the burgeoning middle classes. And clearly subsidizing agriculture channeled toward development of biofuels is not the solution. The US has arrived in Japan with the stated intention of persuading its fellow G8 members not to recognize the clearly illegitimate government of Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe. This comes at the same time that Morgan Tsvangirai has refused South African president Thebo Mbeki's call for talks between the opposing factions. Any move towards recognition of Mugabe's government must be nipped in the bud, and while generally sitting on the sidelines as all hell broke loose in Zimbabwe leading up to the fraudulent election, the world seems ready to take a few meager steps in support of the people there. The G8 can hardly be expected to solve all the problems of the world. But they can certainly be expected to take significant steps towards solving the ones that they had a large hand in starting. And that includes everything mentioned above. __
