...including their commitment to participate in the UN Convention on Climate Change conference in December 2007 in Indonesia, with a view to achieving a comprehensive agreement to succeed the Kyoto Protocol when it expires in 2012.
The G8 recognized in the clearest terms that climate change is a global problem that requires a global response and that we share the long-term goal of curbing it significantly.
In other words, we achieved consensus, the countries of the G8, through the leaders in their discussions in Heiligendamm. An agreement on combatting climate change was one of the key deliverables and one of the key topic areas of G8 leaders.
It was notable for a number of things: first of all, the idea that (a) the G8 leaders could come together on a forward-looking plan, and (b) that the plan included, implicitly, the notion of accepting global targets—as specifically pointed to in the communiqué from the leaders—of the nature established by the EU in its plan, by Japan in its plan, and by Canada in its plan.
I think two other things are noteworthy vis-à-vis the agreement reached by leaders. One was the willingness to engage major emitters, the notion that in order to make real progress on climate change we absolutely need to have at the table countries like the United States, China, India, and others who account for a significant proportion of greenhouse gas emissions. This is something that has eluded us to date. Finally, I think you will find in the statement confirmation of the centrality of the UN process in this. This process begins again in Bali in December.
These are outcomes that were very much in line with Canada's objectives and Canada's plan. I think they represent one of the most noteworthy and positive outcomes of a successful summit in Heiligendamm.
I'll stop there.