Rich Nations, Poor Policies

With the price of oil shooting upward, food security a danger for billions of the world's poor, and climate change already taking its toll on crops, water, and health, members of the Group of 8 rich nations need to cooperate now - and not make vague promises for the distant future.

The defining idea behind the G-8 is that they all confront global challenges and should work together to meet them. But this premise is being sorely tested this week as President Bush confers with leaders of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Russia, Britain, and the host country, Japan.

Tomorrow's crises have arrived, and they are intertwined. The food shortage is caused partly by oil prices and global climate change. And the industrial countries' addiction to carbon-based fuels has the world's climate at a cataclysmic tipping point.

Members may make progress in at least one way: in honoring pledges given at the 2005 G-8 summit for aid to Africa. Japan has been particularly serious about keeping the G-8's 2005 promises to deliver $50 billion annually by 2010 for African development and the fight against malaria, HIV-AIDS, and other diseases. The United States is contributing about $15 billion a year in AIDS relief. But some of the Europeans have been less forthcoming.

It was a good sign that Bush, in the presence of Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, backed Japan's push for detailed assessments of how well each member is doing in delivering the promised aid for Africa. Until now, only a small portion of the pledged assistance has actually been transferred from donor countries to recipients.

But the cause of diminished donations to Africa and of failure to agree on adequate reductions of greenhouse gas emissions is one and the same: the determination of each G-8 leader to defend his or her country's perceived interests above a common global interest. This is why Bush avoided any commitment to specific near-term cuts in carbon emissions, accepting only a vague G-8 target of a 50 percent reduction by 2050.