There has been no time in recent history when co-ordinated agreement from the great powers was more urgent.
The triple crises of energy, economy and climate change are no longer theoretical risks but clear and present dangers that have to be addressed.
The G8 summit in L’Aquila, Italy, last week showed that these problems could no longer be ignored.
Even the fact that the G8 produced a clear statement saying that human activity is provoking dangerous climate change is a massive step forward. This is a long way from the Bush era of denial and obstructionism.
Of the 40 pages of official statements, the bulk of them were around climate change.
This compares favourably with previous conferences where the issue was kept off the agenda entirely.
However, while we should recognise this advance, it is vital to distinguish between fine press releases and genuine commitments to addressing the problem.
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