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Okinawa 2000 Most Credible G8 Summit Ever, says 2001 G8 Compliance Report Preliminary Version Now On-line
Last year's Japanese-hosted Okinawa Summit was by far the most credible G7/G8 summit ever, as member countries have complied with its priority commitments an unusually high 81.4% of the time. Okinawa thus offers a very high benchmark for the forthcoming Italian-hosted Genoa Summit on July 20-22 to meet.
These results are revealed in the preliminary version of the 2001 G8 Compliance Report, by Professor John Kirton, Dr. Ella Kokotsis and Diana Juricevic, and based on research conducted by members of the G8 Research Group, available online at http://www.g8.utoronto.ca
According to these experts, in the ten months since the Okinawa Summit, G7/G8 members have complied with the priority commitments across 12 major issue areas 81.4% of the time, on a scale where 100% equals perfect compliance and �100% shows all members doing the opposite of what they had pledged.
Compliance with Okinawa's priority commitments was particularly high in the issue areas of information technology, health and trade, where the Summit secured a perfect score.
The highest complying members were Germany and Britain, the immediately prior hosts, which each had a perfect compliance score. They were followed by France with 92%; Italy with 89%, Canada with 83%, Japan with 82%, and the United States with 67%. The newest G8 member, Russia, had only 14%.
This 81.4% compliance record compares very favourably with 38% compliance record with the priority commitments of the 1999 Cologne Summit. It also compares impressively with the 32% compliance record of the 1998 Birmingham Summit, the 13% of Denver 1997, and the 36% of Lyon 1996. Whereas the four summits prior to Okinawa yielded an average compliance score of 30%, Okinawa itself soared to register an 80%�with two months left for members to comply still further with its outstanding commitments.
Okinawa's exceptional status is confirmed by compliance studies from 1988 to 1995, which yielded scores of 43% for the United States and Canada on their "sustainable development" and to "aid to Russia" commitments. It is also confirmed by the score of 32% (using different methodology) for the compliance of all members with all the economic and energy commitments made at the summits from 1975 to 1988.
These preliminary scores are offered with an invitation for others to challenge, confirm, enrich and supplement them, prior to the release of a final compliance report.
For additional material, including the individual scores, the data and commitments on which they are based, please visit the analytical studies located at the G8 Information Centre at http://www.g8.utoronto.ca.
For further information contact:
Melanie Martin
2001 Director of Field Communications
melanie.martin@utoronto.ca
http://www.g8.utoronto.ca
