G8 – Sound and fury signifying…what exactly?
Posted July 9, 2009 at 8:03 am 
Filed in: Some international law professors introduce the topic to their students this way: “The thing to remember about international law is that there is none.” There are few better examples of this than the annual leaders’ retreat known as the G8 Summit. This morning’s papers are full of articles citing the Group of Eight industrialized countries (it once was the Group of Seven capitalist democracies, but with the addition of however-you-would-describe the Russian state, that appellation no longer applies) agreeing to try to hold global temperature increases to no more than 2 degrees Celsius (3.5 degrees Fahrenheit) through the end of the century – the level above which many scientists believe really bad climatic outcomes will occur.
Let’s hope they are more successful at preventing global climate change than they have been for the past 34 years in executing what was a founding purpose of the group summit: enhancing energy security. That’s right, leaders of the free world have been meeting on an annual basis since 1975, when they first got together for an informal exchange of views and for talks on the measures that might be adopted to address the mid-seventies economic crises, and the repercussions of the oil shock in particular, as well as the international monetary system reform necessitated by the demise of the Bretton Woods currency exchange system based on the dollar’s convertibility into gold.
The leaders then numbered six: French President Valéry Giscard d’Estaing, German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt, Italian Prime Minister Aldo Moro, Japanese Prime Minister Takeo Miki, British Prime Minister Harold Wilson and US President Gerald Ford. Today’s eight include both Russia and Canada. Yesterday’s documents, in addition to agreeing to hold down temperature increases, included the following on energy security:
“Unpredictable energy markets and highly volatile prices put at risk the ability of the industry to plan and implement investments in new infrastructures, consistently with long term demand dynamics. It is in the interest of both producers and consumers to enhance transparency and to strengthen their dialogue towards reducing excessive volatility in the market. Fossil fuel producing, transit and consuming countries must work together to increase stability and predictability of supply and demand patterns and promote investments in the energy sector, including by supporting and developing further predictable legal and regulatory frameworks.”
Thirty-four years ago, the statement read:
World economic growth is clearly linked to the increasing availability of energy sources. We are determined to secure for our economies the energy sources needed for their growth. Our common interests require that we continue to cooperate in order to reduce our dependence on imported energy through conservation and the development of alternative sources. Through these measures as well as international cooperation between producer and consumer countries, responding to the long-term interests of both, we shall spare no effort in order to ensure more balanced conditions and a harmonious and steady development in the world energy market.
“Spare no effort?” Really? The most that can be said is that the issue remains on the agenda. The G8′s pronouncements lead one to do variation on the old law professor’s maxim: “The thing to remember about international commitments is that there are none.
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