MEXICO JOINS G8 GLOBAL PARTNERSHIP AS 25TH MEMBER

Map:  Mexico.  Credit:  CIA World Factbook.

FROM: U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT

Media Note
Office of the Spokesperson
Washington, DC
December 14, 2012

The U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation welcomes Mexico as the newest addition to the Global Partnership Against the Spread of Weapons and Materials of Mass Destruction (Global Partnership). Mexico is the first Latin American country to join the Global Partnership, which addresses nuclear and radiological security, biosecurity, scientist engagement, and facilitates the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1540 through cooperative projects.

The Global Partnership began at the 2002 Kananaskis G8 Summit as a 10-year, $20 billion initiative to prevent terrorists or states that support them from acquiring or developing weapons of mass destruction (WMD). Since then, the Global Partnership has grown to include 25 members and has allocated about $21 billion worldwide. At the 2011 G8 Summit in Deauville, leaders agreed to extend the Partnership beyond 2012 and to make it more truly global.
　

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION FROM CIA WORLD FACTBOOK

The site of advanced Amerindian civilizations - including the Olmec, Toltec, Teotihuacan, Zapotec, Maya, and Aztec - Mexico was conquered and colonized by Spain in the early 16th century. Administered as the Viceroyalty of New Spain for three centuries, it achieved its independence early in the 19th century. The global financial crisis beginning in late 2008 caused a massive economic downturn the following year, although growth returned quickly in 2010. Ongoing economic and social concerns include low real wages, underemployment for a large segment of the population, inequitable income distribution, and few advancement opportunities for the largely Amerindian population in the impoverished southern states. The elections held in 2000 marked the first time since the 1910 Mexican Revolution that an opposition candidate - Vicente FOX of the National Action Party (PAN) - defeated the party in government, the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). He was succeeded in 2006 by another PAN candidate Felipe CALDERON. National elections, including the presidential election, are scheduled for 1 July 2012. Since 2007, Mexico's powerful drug-trafficking organizations have engaged in bloody feuding, resulting in tens of thousands of drug-related homicides.

"G8 AND AFRICAN LEADERS COMMIT TO NEW ALLIANCE FOR FOOD SECURITY"

Photo:  Corn Field.  Credit:  Wikimedia.
FROM:  U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
G8 Action on Food Security and Nutrition
Fact Sheet
Office of Global Food Security
May 18, 2012
At the Camp David Summit, G8 and African leaders will commit to the New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition, the next phase of our shared commitment to achieving global food security. In partnership with Africa’s people and leaders, our goals are to increase responsible domestic and foreign private investments in African agriculture, take innovations that can enhance agricultural productivity to scale, and reduce the risk borne by vulnerable economies and communities. We recognize and will act upon the critical role played by smallholder farmers, especially women, in transforming agriculture and building thriving economies.

The New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition is a shared commitment to achieve sustained and inclusive agricultural growth and raise 50 million people out of poverty over the next 10 years by aligning the commitments of Africa’s leadership to drive effective country plans and policies for food security; the commitments of private sector partners to increase investments where the conditions are right; and the commitments of the G8 to expand Africa’s potential for rapid and sustainable agricultural growth. We welcome the support of the World Bank and African Development Bank, and of the United Nation’s World Food Program, International Fund for Agricultural Development, and Food and Agriculture Organization for the New Alliance. We also welcome the successful conclusion of the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the context of National Food Security and support the broad-based consultation process and pilot use of the Principles of Responsible Agricultural Investment.

The New Alliance Will Build on and Help Realize the Promise of L’Aquila
Since the L’Aquila Summit, where we committed to “act with the scale and urgency needed to achieve sustainable global food security,” we have increased our bilateral and multilateral investments in food security and changed the way we do business, consistent with core principles of aid effectiveness. Based on the findings of the 2012 G8 Accountability Report and consistent with the Rome Principles on Sustainable Global Food Security, the G8 will agree to:

Promptly fulfill outstanding L’Aquila financial pledges and seek to maintain strong support to address current and future global food security challenges, including through bilateral and multilateral assistance;
Ensure that our assistance is directly aligned behind country plans;
Strengthen the coordination of G8 strategies, assistance and programs in-country and with partner countries to increase efficiencies, reduce transaction burdens, and eliminate redundancies and gaps.

The New Alliance will be rooted in partnership
To accelerate national progress in African partner countries, the G8 will launch New Alliance Cooperation Frameworks that align with priority activities within each partner’s Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) national investment plan and include predictable funding commitments, specific policy actions, and statements of intent from the private sector.

The G8 will partner with the African Union, New Partnership for Africa's Development and CAADP to implement the New Alliance, and leverage in particular the Grow Africa Partnership, in order to ensure our efforts build on African ownership, yield significant outcomes, and can be replicated across Africa. The G8 will work together to advance the objectives of the New Alliance and G-8 members will support its individual elements on a complementary basis.

To mobilize private capital for food security, the New Alliance will:
Support the preparation and financing of bankable agricultural infrastructure projects, through multilateral initiatives including the development of a new Fast Track Facility for Agriculture Infrastructure.
Support the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program (GAFSP), with the goal of securing commitments of $1.2 billion over three years from existing and new donors, scaling up and strengthening the operations of its public and private sector windows and support other mechanisms that improve country ownership and align behind CAADP national investment plans.

Report on the progress of G-8 development finance institutions in catalyzing additional private investment in African agriculture and increasing the range of financing options and innovative risk mitigation tools available to smallholder farmers and medium-sized agribusinesses.

Call on the World Bank, in collaboration with other relevant partners, to develop options for generating a Doing Business in Agriculture Index.

Announce the signing of Letters of Intent from over 45 local and multinational companies to invest over $3 billion across the agricultural value chain in Grow Africa countries, and the signing by over 60 companies of the Private Sector Declaration of Support for African Agricultural Development outlining their commitment to support African agriculture and public-private partnerships in a responsible manner.

To take innovation to scale, the New Alliance will:
Determine 10-year targets in partner countries for sustainable agricultural yield improvements, adoption of improved production technologies, including improved seed varieties, as well as post-harvest management practices as part of a value-chain approach, and measures to ensure ecological sustainability and safeguard agro-biodiversity.

Launch a Technology Platform with the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research, the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa and other partners in consultation with the Tropical Agriculture Platform and the Coalition for African Rice Development (CARD) initiative that will assess the availability of improved technologies for food commodities critical to achieve sustainable yield, resilience, and nutrition impacts, identify current constraints to adoption, and create a roadmap to accelerate adoption of technologies.

Launch the Scaling Seeds and Other Technologies Partnership, housed at the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa to strengthen the seed sector and promote the commercialization, distribution and adoption of key technologies improved seed varieties, and other technologies prioritized by the Technology Platform to meet established goals in partner countries.
Share relevant agricultural data available from G8 countries with African partners and convene an international conference on Open Data for Agriculture, to develop options for the establishment of a global platform to make reliable agricultural and related information available to African farmers, researchers and policymakers, taking into account existing agricultural data systems.
Launch an information and communications technology innovation challenge on extension services at the African Union Summit in July 2012.
Explore opportunities for applying the non-profit model licensing approach that could expand African access to food and nutritional technologies developed by national research institutions.

To reduce and manage risk, the New Alliance will:
Support the Platform for Agricultural Risk Management (PARM) to complete national agricultural risk assessment strategies, to be conducted by the World Bank and other international institutions in close partnership with New Alliance countries, with the mandate of identifying key risks to food and nutrition security and agricultural development and recommending options for managing these risks.
Create a global action network to accelerate the availability and adoption of agricultural index insurance, in order to mitigate risks to farmers, especially smallholder and women farmers, and increase income and nutritional security. This network will pool data and findings; identify constraints; support regional training and capacity-building; and accelerate the development of instruments appropriate for smallholders and pastoralists.
Recognize the need for Africa-based sovereign risk management instruments, recognizing the progress by the African Union and its member governments toward creating the African Risk Capacity, a regional risk-pooling facility for drought management.

To improve nutritional outcomes and reduce child stunting, the G8 will:
Actively support the Scaling Up Nutrition movement and welcome the commitment of African partners to improve the nutritional well-being of their populations, especially during the critical 1,000 days window from pregnancy to a child’s second birthday. We pledge that the G8 members will maintain robust programs to further reduce child stunting.
Commit to improve tracking and disbursements for nutrition across sectors and ensure coordination of nutrition activities across sectors.

Support the accelerated release, adoption and consumption of bio-fortified crop varieties, crop diversification, and related technologies to improve the nutritional quality of food in Africa.
Develop a nutrition policy research agenda and support the efforts of African institutions, civil society and private sector partners to establish regional nutritional learning centers.
To ensure accountability for results, the New Alliance will:
Convene a Leadership Council to drive and track implementation, which will report to the G8 and African Union on progress towards achieving the commitments under the New Alliance, including commitments made by the private sector.

Report to the 2013 G8 Summit on the implementation of the New Alliance, including the actions of the private sector, in collaboration with the African Union.

CAMP DAVID SUMMIT G8 FACT SHEET ON ENERGY AND CLIMATE CHANGE

Photo Credit:  Wikimedia.
FROM:  U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT
Fact Sheet: G8 Action on Energy and Climate Change
May 19, 2012
At the Camp David Summit, G8 Leaders recognized that the development of and universal access to environmentally safe, sustainable, secure, and affordable sources of energy is essential to global economic growth and to their overall efforts to address climate change. As such, they identified several actions for the G8 to take together:

Pursue a Comprehensive Energy Strategy – Safely
· Recognize the value of simultaneously pursuing a wide variety of energy sources in order to meet energy demands, acknowledging each nation’s different needs and different approaches. In pursuing an appropriate mix from all of the above, we recognize that different energy sources have different inherent risks and must be developed in a safe, efficient, and environmentally sustainable manner.

Support the G-20 Global Marine Environment Protection initiative to develop a Best Practices Sharing Mechanism (GMEP Mechanism), available to all interested countries and stakeholders, for the exchange of best practices for offshore oil and gas exploration and development in an effort to help prevent future accidents.

Welcome and agree to review the International Energy Agency’s work on potential best practices for natural gas development as an input into our effort to share information on strategies for its environmentally safe and sustainable production.

 Recognize the important work of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), particularly full implementation of its Action Plan on Nuclear Safety, and strengthened cooperation between governments, the nuclear energy industry, and the IAEA. Encourage all Parties to make full use of the upcoming extraordinary meeting of the Convention on Nuclear Safety to enhance and strengthen the effectiveness of the international legal framework by the most efficient and practicable means available. Notes the importance of the upcoming December 2012 Fukushima Ministerial Conference on Nuclear Safety.

Respond to Changing Fuel Mix and Infrastructure
Request the IEA, in coordination with other international institutions, to review existing work and provide a consolidated report on likely future scenarios for the global energy balance and the infrastructure requirements created by the changing energy mix.

Welcome innovative, market-based instruments for financing energy infrastructure, including from the Multilateral Development Banks and Development Finance Institutions, such as guarantees, political risk insurance, and other forms of support for the private investment needed to modernize the global energy infrastructure with particular attention to environmental challenges.

Facilitate free trade in all kinds of energy resources as a means to enhance economic security and decrease price volatility, including by abolishing barriers to trade and by providing for a favorable investment climate in the energy sector.

Encourage both consumer and producer countries to further enhance the transparency of gas markets through dialogues and development of gas data systems, and request the International Energy Forum to accelerate the establishment of a full-fledged Joint Oil Data Initiative-Gas.

Support for the development of open, transparent, consensus-based standards development processes, thereby facilitating interoperability, creating an international market for grid technologies, encouraging trade, and improving efficiency.

Promote the Sustainable Deployment of Renewables
Support cooperation to enhance the regulatory and operating systems governing electric grids through initiatives under the Clean Energy Ministerial, including the launch of the Public-Private Leadership Forum under the 21stCentury Power Partnership.

Commission theIEA, in cooperation with International Renewable Energy Agency and other international institutions, to synthesize recent analyses of renewable energy development and deployment policies in G-8 countries, including:
Experience with, and innovation in, government funding for research and development (drawn from the report on “Accelerating Energy Technology Innovation”);

Efficacy of policies, including regulations, portfolio standards, feed-in tariffs, and other subsidies, to promote renewable energy deployment consistent with market competition among technologies.

Request the IEA to synthesize recent assessments of existing regulatory models and grid management systems to identify best practices in integrating renewable energy sources into the power grid, drawing from a broad range of recent IEA work on renewables deployment and smart grid solutions. These developments should be aimed at sustainable and long-term modernization of the electricity sector, technological advancements, and economic growth that will allow all renewables to develop freely in a competitive environment.

Applaud the Global Bioenergy Partnership (GBEP) for finalizing a set of sustainability indicators for the production and use of modern bioenergy and for initiating capacity building activities through a Regional Forum in West Africa. Invite GBEP to continue implementing capacity building activities that promote modern bioenergy for sustainable development.

Enhance Preparedness for Oil and Gas Supply Disruptions
Request the IEA, in coordination with other international institutions, to analyze how changes in the global energy market are affecting the preparedness for oil and gas disruptions. The review should include:
The appropriate level and composition of strategic stocks, for example, crude oil versus petroleum products, to mitigate the economic consequences of energy supply disruptions; and
Coordination of collective responses to supply disruptions with other producing and consuming countries, including the potential for increased stockholding by, and alignment of policies with, emerging consumer countries.

Advance Energy Efficiency, Including Appliance and Equipment Efficiency
Accelerate the global pace of progress on appliances and equipment efficiency by encouraging all governments to:
Build on current efforts under the Clean Energy Ministerial, including the Super-efficient Equipment and Appliances Deployment (SEAD) initiative;

Take steps, including through SEAD, to recognize comparable and transparent test procedures for energy efficiency in appliances and other consumer products to allow manufacturers to test products once and sell them globally. This effort will draw on the work of existing standardization bodies to lower non-tariff barriersand improve the international comparability of energy efficiency policies.

Agree to work together, including through the Clean Energy Ministerial’s Global Superior Energy Performance Partnership (GSEP), to encourage the use of energy management systems in industry as well as in government and other buildings and share related best practices.

Address Climate Change, Including By Reducing Short-Lived Climate Pollutants
In the spirit of increasing mitigation efforts, we agree to collectively join the Climate and Clean Air Coalition to Reduce Short-Lived Climate Pollutants, launched on February 16, 2012. This new initiative will enhance our collective ambition in addressing climate change by complementing efforts to address CO2 emissions. By developing strategies to reduce short term pollutants – chiefly methane, black carbon, and hydroflurocarbons – we can help reduce global warming, improve health, and increase agricultural productivity, as well as energy security.

Commission the World Bank to prepare a report on ways to integrate reduction of near-term climate pollution into their activities and ask the World Bank to bring together experts from interested countries to evaluate new approaches to financing projects to reduce methane, including through pay-for-performance mechanisms.

In its role as 2012 Chair of the G8, the United States intends to work with G8 partners to develop mechanisms for following up these actions over the course of 2012.