UofT G8 Information Centre: 2007 Heiligendamm Interim Compliance Report

10 July 2008 to 26 June 2009
Prepared by Allison Martell, Sarah Yun, Erin Fitzgerald and Marina Larionova
with Jenilee Guebert,
the University of Toronto G8 Research Group
and the State University Higher School of Economics (Moscow) G8 Research Centre
30 June 2009

The 2008 Hokkaido-Toyako G8 Summit Final Compliance Report reviews progress made on selected commitments set out at the 2008 Hokkaido-Toyako Summit for the period of 10 July 2008 to 26 June 2009. The preface and summary of the findings are listed below. The 2008 Final Compliance Scores and Summary Compliance Scores since 1996 are also listed below. The 2008 Interim Compliance Report, released in February 2009, is available here.

Preface

Each year since 1996, the G8 Research Group has produced a compliance report on the progress made by the G8 members in meeting commitments made by leaders at their annual summit. Since 2002, the group has published an interim report, timed to assess progress at the moment of transition between one country’s year as host and the next. A final compliance report is then issued just prior the subsequent G8 summit. These reports monitor and assess each country’s efforts to comply with a carefully chosen selection of the many commitments included in the communiqués. They are offered to the general public and to policy makers, scholars, civil society, the media and interested citizens around the world in an effort to make the work of the G8 more transparent, accessible, and accountable, and to provide scientific data to enable the meaningful analysis of this unique, informal institution. These compliance reports are available on the G8 Information Centre website.

The G8 Research Group is an independent institution based at the University of Toronto. Founded in 1987, it is a global network of scholars, professionals and students interested in the activities of the G8. The group oversees the G8 Information Centre, which publishes, free of charge, analysis and research on the G8, and makes available official documents issued by the G8.

For the 2008 Final Compliance report, 20 priority commitments were selected from the 296 identified by the G8 Research Group at the Hokkaido-Toyako Summit, hosted by Japan, from 7 to 9 July 2008. This report assesses the results of compliance with those 20 commitments as of 26 June 2009. The G8 Research Group in Toronto has collaborated with a team at the State University Higher School of Economics (HSE) in Moscow, led by Marina Larionova, which worked specifically on the reports for Russia and Italy, which will host the summit on 8 to 10 July 2009. This collaboration builds on the combined efforts of both teams in 2007 and 2008.

To produce its compliance assessments, the G8 Research Group relies on publicly available information, documentation and media reports. In an ongoing effort to ensure the accuracy, integrity and comprehensiveness of these reports, we encourage comments and suggestions. This report serves as a living document, and scores can be recalibrated if additional relevant material becomes available. Any feedback remains anonymous and is not attributed. Responsibility for this report’s contents lies exclusively with the authors and analysts of the G8 Research Group.

The work of the G8 Research Group would not be possible without the steadfast dedication of many people around the world. In particular, this report is the product of a team of energetic and hard-working analysts directed impressively by Sarah Yun and Erin Fitzgerald, chairs of the student executive, as well as Allison Martell, Director of the Compliance Unit, with the support of Dr. Ella Kokotsis, Director of Research, and Jenilee Guebert, Senior Researcher.

Summary

The University of Toronto G8 Research Group has completed its thirteenth annual Final Compliance Report. It is based on an analysis of compliance by the G8 member and the European Union with 20 priority commitments from the 2008 Hokkaido-Toyako Summit and covers the period from 10 July 2008 to 26 June 2009. Future revisions of this report will address actions taken between 26 June 2009 and L’Aquila G8 Summit on 8 to 10 July 2009.

The Final Compliance Scores are identified in Table A. They indicate that from July 2008 to June 2009, the G8 and the EU received an average compliance score of 0.48. This is slightly lower than the 2007 average of 0.51, but higher than the 2006 average of 0.47.

Individual scores are assigned on a scale of +1, 0 and -1, where +1 indicates full compliance with the stated commitment, 0 is awarded for partial compliance or a work in progress, and -1 is reserved for those countries that fail to comply or that take action that is directly opposite to the stated substance of the commitment. Compliance in this report is assessed from the conclusion of the 2008 Summit (on or after 10 July 2008) with the exception of a very few cases where past action has made further compliance impossible. For example, if a country has previously ratified a treaty or convention, it cannot be expected to ratify it a second time to meet a subsequent collective summit commitment, so past compliance in such cases is considered as current compliant behaviour.

The compliance assessments within this report serve to justify the scores assigned, but do not seek to explain overall trends in compliance scores for this summit year. This report therefore provides the analytical assessments to support each country’s score across the 20 priority commitments selected, but reserves judgment or explanatory rationale on the reason for the overall score. The analytic framework and methodology for determining commitments and assessing compliance is consistent from year to year and is outlined in the G8 Research Group’s compliance manual, available on G8 Information Centre at www.g8.utoronto.ca/compliance.

In this report, score rankings for G8 member are in line with past trends. The United Kingdom is in its average position, which is first. Japan also holds steady at its long-term average rank, sixth. Italy is in last place, which is also its average rank. Nearly half of the G8 is within one rank of its historical average – Canada is third, but second overall; Germany is in fourth, but fifth overall; Russia is in seventh, but eighth overall; France is in eighth, but seventh overall. The European Union is ranked in fifth, despite its third place overall. But the only real surprise may be the United States, which has ranked substantially higher than usual, tied for first, though historically it is ranked fourth.

The difference between the highest and lowest G8 member compliance scores is 0.70. This is lower than last year’s gap of 0.74, and just slightly higher than this year’s interim gap of 0.67. It is also substantially smaller than the largest interim compliance gap, 0.90, recorded after the 2005 Gleneagles Summit.

Three of Japan’s priority issue areas going into the Hokkaido-Toyako Summit were climate change, the world economy and African development. This report assesses a number of commitments in the documents that correspond to these priorities. Compliance scores varied substantially. Compliance with commitments drawn from the World Economy communiqué averaged a score of +0.84, well above the overall compliance score. Compliance on the environment and climate change also showed higher than average compliance, at an average of +0.64. Commitments drawn from development and Africa, however, show relatively low scores, averaging +0.26.

The average compliance score rose substantially between this year’s interim and final reports, and the source of that increase can be revealed in part by looking at summit priority issue areas. Compliance rose by a substantial 0.56 between the interim and final reports for commitments on development and Africa, but only 0.25 for commitments on the environment and climate change, and 0.19 for commitments on the world economy.

The information contained within this report provides G8 member countries and other stakeholders with an indication of their compliance performance in the post-Hokkaido-Toyako period. As with previous compliance reports, this report has been produced as an invitation for others to provide additional or more complete information on country compliance. As always, comments are welcomed and would be considered as part of an analytical reassessment. Please send your feedback to g8@utoronto.ca.

In addition to these compliance reports, the G8 Research Group conducts special studies that use additional compliance assessments of commitments made in current or previous years. These studies, with a more complete data base that uses both the regular and additional assessments, will have different aggregate results than those reported here. Other special studies focus on assessing compliance with multiyear commitments, with a focus on those made since 1997 that are due to be delivered by the summit in 2010. Other special studies seek to explain compliance, especially in the areas of finance and development, climate change and health, with a focus on how G8 leaders can craft their summit commitments in ways that contain compliance “catalysts” that improve the likelihood of compliance over the subsequent year.

Table A: 2008 Hokkaido-Toyako Compliance Scores

Table B: G8 Compliance by Country, 1996–2008

Research Team

	Commitment Name	CDN	FRA	GER	ITA	JPN	RUS	UK	US	EU	Average
1	Finance [3]	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1.00
2	Energy: Efficiency and Diversification [26]	1	0	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	0.89
3	Intellectual Property Rights [38]	1	0	1	1	1	1	0	1	1	0.78
4	Corruption [43]	1	1	0	0	0	1	1	1	1	0.67
5	Climate Change: Mid-term Goals [55]	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	-1	1	0.78
6	Energy Efficiency [59]	1	1	0	0	-1	1	1	1	1	0.56
7	Climate Change: CCS [72]	1	-1	1	-1	1	-1	1	1	1	0.33
8	Biodiversity [89]	1	1	1	0	1	1	1	1	1	0.89
9	Africa: Official Development Assistance [97]	1	-1	1	-1	1	1	1	1	0	0.44
10	Health Systems and Infectious Disease [118]	1	1	1	1	0	0	1	1	1	0.78
11	Health: Neglected Tropical Diseases [127]	0	-1	-1	-1	0	-1	1	1	-1	-0.33
12	Education [142]	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0.11
13	Africa: Trade [154]	0	0	1	0	0	-1	1	1	1	0.33
14	Nonproliferation [183]	1	-1	1	0	-1	1	1	1	0	0.33
15	Africa: Peace Support [203]	1	0	1	1	1	0	1	1	0	0.67
16	Africa: Food and Agriculture [220]	0	1	1	1	1	-1	0	0	1	0.44
17	Biofuels [229]	1	1	1	-1	1	1	1	1	1	0.78
18	Terrorism [246]	0	-1	-1	1	-1	-1	-1	1	1	-0.22
19	Regional Security [248]	1	0	0	-1	-1	0	1	1	-1	0.00
20	Climate Change: Developing Countries [265]	1	1	1	-1	1	0	1	1	0	0.56
	2008 Final Compliance Average	0.75	0.2	0.6	0.10	0.35	0.25	0.80	0.80	0.55	0.48
	2008 Interim Compliance Average	0.20	-0.05	0.40	-0.20	-0.10	0.05	0.45	0.45	0.20	0.16
	2007 Final Compliance Average	0.65	0.52	0.57	0.17	0.30	0.30	0.70	0.91	0.48	0.51
	2007 Interim Compliance Average	0.22	0.17	0.48	0.13	0.04	0.17	0.61	0.78	0.39	0.33

Summit	Lyon	Denver	Birmingham	Cologne	Okinawa	Genoa	Kananaskis	Kananaskis	Evian	Evian	Sea Island	Sea Island
Report period	96-97	97-98	98-99	99-00	00-01	01-02	May-02	May-02	Apr-03	Apr-03	Jun-04	Jun-04
Report type	Final	Final	Final	Final	Final	Final	Interim	Final	Interim	Final	Interim	Final
Canada	0.47	0.17	0.50	0.67	0.83	0.64	0.77	0.85	0.58	0.83	0.50	0.72
France	0.28	0.00	0.25	0.33	0.92	0.5	0.39	0.62	0.50	0.75	0.39	0.50
Germany	0.58	0.17	0.25	0.17	1.00	0.5	0.08	0.15	0.42	0.50	0.50	0.67
Italy	0.43	-0.50	0.67	0.17	0.89	0.43	0.00	-0.11	0.33	0.25	0.39	0.44
Japan	0.22	0.50	0.20	0.67	0.82	0.29	0.10	0.07	0.42	0.42	0.33	0.39
Russia	N/A	0.00	0.33	0.33	0.14	0.09	0.14	0.08	0.42	0.33	0.00	0.06
UK	0.42	0.50	0.75	0.50	1.00	0.5	0.5	0.62	0.58	0.50	0.50	0.67
US	0.42	0.33	0.60	0.50	0.67	0.29	0.25	0.38	0.50	0.50	0.44	0.72
EU	N/A	N/A	N/A	0.33	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	0.50	0.72
G8 + EU	0.40	0.15	0.44	0.42	0.81	0.41	0.3	0.35	0.47	0.51	0.40	0.55
Total commitments assessed	19	6	7	6	12	14	13	13	12	12	18	18

Summit	Gleneagles	Gleneagles	St Petersburg	St Petersburg	Heiligendamm	Heiligendamm	Hokkaido-Toyako	Hokkaido-Toyako
Report period	Jul-05	Jul-05	Jul-06	Jul-06	Jun-07	Jun-07	Jul-08	Jul-08
Report type	Interim	Final	Interim	Final	Interim	Final	Interim	Final
Canada	0.52	0.81	0.45	0.60	0.22	0.65	0.20	0.75
France	0.48	0.57	0.30	0.40	0.17	0.52	-0.05	0.20
Germany	0.33	0.86	0.45	0.55	0.48	0.57	0.40	0.60
Italy	0.43	0.29	0	0.05	0.13	0.17	-0.20	0.10
Japan	0.52	0.52	0.30	0.40	0.04	0.30	-0.10	0.35
Russia	-0.14	0.14	0.25	0.45	0.17	0.30	0.05	0.25
UK	0.67	0.95	0.55	0.60	0.61	0.70	0.45	0.08
US	0.71	0.81	0.35	0.60	0.78	0.91	0.45	0.80
EU	0.75	0.89	0.58	0.58	0.39	0.48	0.20	0.55
G8 + EU	0.47	0.65	0.36	0.47	0.33	0.51	0.16	0.48
Total commitments assessed	21	21	20	20	23	23	20	20

Research Team
Professor John Kirton, Director, G8 Research Group
Professor Marina Larionova, Chair, HSE Research Team
Dr. Ella Kokotsis, Director of Analytical Research, G8 Research Group
Sarah Yun, Chair, G8 Research Group
Erin Fitzgerald, Vice-Chair, G8 Research Group
Allison Martell, Chair, Compliance Unit
Jenilee Guebert, Senior Researcher, G8 Research Group
Mark Rakhmangulov, HSE Research Team Leader
Netila Demneri, Assistant Chair, Compliance Unit
Mila Khodskaya, Assistant Chair, Compliance Unit
Sam Plett, Assistant Chair, Compliance Unit

Larissa Adameck	Ivana Jankovic	Conad Lochovsky
Nike Adebowale	Sahar Kazranian	Shiva Logarajah
Sandro Gianella	Denitza Koev	Egor Ouzikov
Kenta Hatamochi	Miranda Lin	Sam Plett

Amina Abdullayeva	Sarah Ellis	Alex Meers
Natalie Antonowicz	Geneva Fong	Rukshan Mehta
Mickal Aranha	Nicole Formosa	Amelie Meyer-Robinson
John Ashbourne	Charlotte Freeman-Shaw	Jim Mylonas
Charlene Barker	Daniel Fusca	Ryerson Neal
Meaghan Barrett	Krista Gallagher	Miyoun Oh
Jesse Beatson	Naregh Galoustian	Djastin Park
Aberdeen Berry	Daniel Gatto	Surkhab Peerzada
Vanessa Bertone	Aaron Ghobarah	Kayla Pries
Amartya Biswas	Dmitry Goldman	Shakir Rahim
Sofi Blazeski	Igor Gontcharov	Maria Robson
Stephan Bundi	Colum Grove-White	Adam Romanov
Nicole Cargill	Erin Haines	Julien Russell Brunet
Ailsa Chau	Jasmine Hamade	Luca Sarcanin
Claire Chow	Kabilan Kanagalingam	Andrei Sedoff
Christopher Cosack	Tala Khoury	Alicja Serafin
Nikola Cvetkovic	Margaret Kim	Hiba Sha'ath
Anthony Darcovich	Marianne Madeline Lau	Hélène Smertnik
Adrienne Davidson	Lucy Isabel Leiderman	Jesse Sperling
Isabel Dimitrov	Chiara Magboo	Catherine Tsalikis
Darcie Dixon	Adriano Marchese	Harlan Tufford
Danara Dourdoussova	Leroy Massey	Jayme Turney
Fatima Ul-Haq	Steven Wang	Joshua Xiong
Liliane Vicente	Yinsey Wang	Tatjana Zalar
Julienne Vipond	Amy Willis	Sam Zhao
Sabina Voicu	Andrew Wright

Igor Churkin	Yulia Ovchinnikova	Yuriy Zaytsev
Natalia Churkina	Mark Rakhmangulov
Tatiana Lanshina	Arina Shadrikova

Natalie Antonowicz	Adrien Davidson	Conrad Lochovsky
John Ashbourne	Sarah Ellis	Ronan MacParland
Jane Bao	Geneva Fong	Lauren Peruzza
Charlene Barker	Daniel Fusca	Alicja Serafin
Meaghan Barrett	Daniel Gatto	Hiba Sha'ath
Nadia Bucciarelli	Jasmine Hamade	Harlan Tufford
Nikola Cvetkovic	Miranda Lin
Danara Dourdoussova	Marianne Madeline Liu

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	Please send comments to: g7@utoronto.ca This page was last updated July 01, 2009.