Press Conference:
Yurika Ayukawa, 2008 Japan G8 Summit NGO Forum;
Kim Carstensen, WWF International;
Arjun K Karki, LDC Watch;
Geo-Sung Kim, Transparency International Korea

The speech and Q & A will be in English.

The Road To The Hokkaido Summit: The International NGO Perspective

With the G8 Summit in Hokkaido just three weeks away, international NGOs working on environment, development, human rights and peace issues are now arriving in Japan. As host of this year's G8, Japan, has announced climate change, the food shortage crisis, and development, especially for Africa, will be the main items on the agenda.

But while the Japanese government and many G8 members trumpet growing international agreement on the need for tough emissions reduction targets by 2050, climatologists and NGOs warn that unless this year's G8 sends a strong signal that developed nations also need to set tough reduction targets by next year, when a treaty to replace the Kyoto Protocol is hammered out in Copenhagen, global warming will continue and result in a climate catastrophe long before mid-century.

And while both the Japanese government and the Japanese NGO community have had much to say so far about climate change and development, both have been relatively silent on the G8's responsibility towards peace and human rights issues, a fact that has some international NGOs concerned.

Join us as the some of the world's leading NGOs outline their hopes and present their action plans for this year's G8 meeting.

Geo-Sung Kim

Yurika Ayukawa & Kim Carstensen

Kim Carstensen & Arjun K Karki