foei throws critical light on 2007 g8 summit
Friends of the Earth International believes that the summit for the eight most industrialized nations (or G8) acts primarily in the interest of the world’s most powerful countries, and is therefore the wrong body to decide the planet’s future.
The 2007 G8 Summit reaffirmed previous commitments on renewable energies and energy efficiency. However, such welcome statements were overshadowed by the focus given to investment in unsustainable energy sources such as fossil fuels, biofuels, and nuclear power.
At the end of May, 2007, FoEI campaigners warned that G8 leaders would not tackle the root causes of poverty and climate change at their June talks in Heiligendamm. Then, in early June, young Friends of the Earth Germany gathered in Heiligendamm, Germany from G8-Summit protests. The demonstrations were combined with workshops, networking and action training and proved to be an excellent way for young people affiliated with FoE to meet up.
The anti-G8 demonstrations also proved successful, with activists setting up barricades on roads leading to the summit. With access to the summit blocked, summit organisers were forced to use boats or helicopters for transport. According to Martin Schmalabauer, a blockade organiser, “Over 10 thousand people would be involved in the summit if it worked correctly, so this is a real blockade, but the idea is symbolic, it is a symbol of our opposition to global capitalism”.
