g8 summit magazine 2012
DESCRIPTION
G8 Summit Magazine for Summit held in Camp David, Maryland in 2012.TRANSCRIPT
Camp David, Maryland2012
Summit
G8SUMMIT2012 | 1
EDITORIALCredits .................................................................................................................2
Forward - Stefan Tevis ..................................................................................55
Welcome - Barack Obama .........................................................................55
Welcome - Hilary Rodham Clinton ..........................................................55
About the G8 ...................................................................................................55
Camp David - The Presidential Retreat ..................................................55
Energy: Focus on Fundamentals ..............................................................55
Nuclear Power in the Post-Fukushima World .....................................55
Additional Elliot Gue Article .......................................................................55
10 Years Later: Utah ......................................................................................55
NATIONS & LEADERSBarack Obama ..................................................................................................55
Unitied States of America ............................................................................55
David Cameron ................................................................................................55
United Kingdom ..............................................................................................55
Vladimir Putin/Dmitry Medvedev .............................................................55
Russia ...................................................................................................................55
Angela Merkel ...................................................................................................55
Federal Republic of Germany ....................................................................55
Yoshihiko Noba ................................................................................................55
Japan ...................................................................................................................55
Mario Manti ........................................................................................................55
Italy ......................................................................................................................55
Steven Harper ...................................................................................................55
Canada ................................................................................................................55
François Hollande ...........................................................................................55
French Republic ...............................................................................................55
European Union ...............................................................................................55
Jose Barroso .....................................................................................................55
CONTENTS
| G8SUMMIT20122
Board Members and Executive Staff:President & CEO: Stefan N. TevisPersonal Assistant Hellen “Nakupenda” Executive Offices: NgendoExe Assistant to President: Kamille TurrentineExe Assistant to President: Vanessa Jackson Editor-in-Chief: Elliot Gue Creative & Design Director: Jordon Mazziotti Assistant to the CD: Tahna Mazziotti General Council Legal: Carl GustavesonChief Financial Officer: Ken Rasmussen Chairman Designate: Alexander Church EVP Global Corp. Comm.: Peter MunsonVP Sustainability & Development: Matthew WilsonVP Corporate Strategy: Stephan DeCarlo Int’l Business Consultant/Africa: Dr. Clifford FergusonSr. Int’l Correspondent/Australia: Diane WeeksVP Unstainable Energy: Sondra BostwickSales Coordinator: Veronica Lewis Head of Gov’t Think Tank: David Weeks AIDS Awareness Programmer: Victoria FergusonSenior Correspondent: Roger ConradVP Asian Affairs: Madan Subedi
Special Contributing Editors & Feature Writers:
Elliot Gue Energy Strategist Roger Conrad G20 NationsDeborah Harry Senior Journalist - UKJordon Mazziotti Senior Journalist - USA
Contact Information:
Prestige Media Publications LLC11075 South State Street, Suite #4Sandy, Utah 84070 United States of America.Telephone: 001-801-428-1777Fax: 001-801-428-1778Email: [email protected]: www.prestigemediausa.com
Special “Thank You” is extended to the following for making this G8 Summit publication an outstanding success....
G8 Heads of StateG8 Delegates and PressG8 Organizing CommitteeTourism Council of Frederick CountyDennis PorterNeil WilkinsonTom WilliamsonDr. Aaron BarsonDr. Clifford Ferguson Brian - Syptec Gustaveson Family
Thank you to all of our Advertisers
Legal Disclaimer: Copyright © 2012 - All material found herein is the property of Prestige Media Group and its affiliates. Any reproduction or duplication of this magazine in any form without written consent is strictly prohibited. All advice, legal counsel and opinions are the opinions of the writers and Prestige Media Group is not liable for any misinformation or issues that may arise from that information. Prestige Media Group recommends seeking legal counsel for any and all issues stemming from information contained herein.
CREDITS
G8SUMMIT2012 | 3
Prestige Media is proud to present to the world’s leaders in Camp David, Maryland, the
publication for the 2012 G8 summit. We began covering the G7 in 1997, when Governor
Romer, through his personal friendship with the then President of the U.S. Bill Clinton,
hosted the summit in Denver Colorado.
Our deepest thanks are due to the United States Government for allowing us to cite our
credentials, and assisting us in producing this publication.
The G8 summit, attended by the eight most powerful industrial nations, collectively accounting for
65% of the world’s GDP, provides an unequalled opportunity for world leaders to bring the most
pressing issues of the day to the forefront of the world stage - the problems facing our planet and
its’ future, and the multitude of races and species dependant on it.
We are proud to have been able to play our part by bringing these enormously important issues
into the public eye at such a high profile event, through the advertisers who have graced our
pages, seeing our magazine as a major carrier of these themes to the world arena, and recognizing
the high quality penetration of our distribution .
This edition is exceptional in having secured the very best standard and quality of editorial writers,
each an acclaimed expert in their respective field in each of the major topics of the G8, with an
emphasis on climate change, the environment, and alternative & renewable energy. Our mission is
to be their voice piece, keeping these themes to the forefront of everyone’s mind. We know that
through a combined force of some of the largest companies in the world, a movement has begun
which will be for the benefit of every one of us, as well as future generations.
The problems we, as custodians of our planet face, are unprecedented. We must ensure that
innovations and action promoted by governments, companies, and organizations are seized
upon and embraced by us all.
To a brighter and more sustainable future,
Stefan N. Tevis President and CEO, Prestige Media
FORWARD
Barack ObamaPresident of United States
4 | G8SUMMIT2012
WELCOME
President Barack Obama welcomes the world to the G8 Summit in Camp David, Maryland on May 18-19, 2012.
On the move of the G8 Summit from Chicago to Camp David:
“Somebody pointed out that I hadn’t had any of my counterparts, who I’ve worked with now for three years, up to Camp David. G8 tends to be a more informal setting in which we talk about a wide range of issues in a pretty intimate way. And the thinking was that people would enjoy be-ing in a more casual backdrop. I think the weather should be good that time of year.”
Invitations of African Leaders:
President Obama has invited African Leaders to join Leaders at the G-8 Summit at Camp David on May 19 for a discussion session on accelerating progress towards food security in Africa. The African Leaders who have been invited to participate in the Summit are: Chairperson of the African Union and President of Benin Yayi BoniPrime Minister Meles Zenawi of EthiopiaPresident John Mills of GhanaPresident Jakaya Kikwete of Tanzania
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Welcome
The events of this past year affirm the continued need for comprehensive international coopera-
tion, and the G-8 is an essential forum for that.
We are alarmed for the ongoing violence in Syria, and we are concerned about the problems fac-
ing Special Envoy Kofi Annan as he attempts to bring about a ceasefire and the end to violence.
We are very watchful of this.
And finally, we have begun discussing some of the transnational issues – terrorism, piracy, food
security – that affect so many millions of people throughout the world. We are also going to be
discussing our shared framework to support the democratic transitions and promote sustainable
and inclusive economic growth through the Deauville Partnership in the Middle East and North
Africa.
So there’s a lot for us to discuss, and we have a full agenda ahead of us in preparation for the
leaders meeting at Camp David. So again, I welcome my colleagues and look forward to our
work together. Thank you all.
Hilary Rodham ClintonSecretary of State
8 | G8SUMMIT2012
The Group of Eight (G8) is a forum for
the leaders of eight of the world’s
most industrialized nations, aimed at
finding common ground on key topics
and solutions to global issues. The G8
includes Canada, France, Germany,
Italy, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom and
the United States. While the leaders of these
countries are in regular contact, they meet in
summit format as the G8 once a year.
The G8’s origin stems from meetings held in
the 1970s between France’s Valéry Giscard
D’Estaing and Germany’s Helmut Schmidt when
they were finance ministers. Each subsequent-
ly assumed the leadership of their respective
countries, just as the mid-1970s oil crisis was
buffeting the world’s largest economies. French
President Giscard D’Estaing urged the leaders
of Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom
and the United States to meet in 1975 to discuss
how to respond to the oil crisis.
Canada joined the group in 1976 at the Puer-
to Rico Summit hosted by the United States.
The European Community, now the European
Union, was given observer status the following
year at the London Summit. Russia became a
full-fledged member of the G8 in 1998. Canada
has hosted four summits since 1976: Ottawa-
Montebello 1981, Toronto 1988, Halifax 1995 and
Kananaskis 2002. France is host of the Deau-
ville G8 Summit in Deauville on May 26 and 27.
It was last held in France in 2003 in Évian-les-
Bains.
Depending on discretion the G8 presidency, ad-
ditional nations are invited. In the past these
have included the Outreach Five which consist
of Brazil, People’s Republic of China, India, Mex-
ico, and South Africa. These are widely consid-
ered the top emerging nations in the world.
G8 PRESIDENCY
The role of chairing the G8 rotates each calen-
dar year among the member countries in the
following order: United States, United King-
dom, Russia, Germany, Japan, Italy, Canada and
France. The European Union, though not part
of this hosting rotation, also participates in the
G8 and is represented by the President of the
European Council and the President of the Eu-
ropean Commission.
The country holding the G8 presidency is re-
sponsible for hosting and organizing the sum-
mit and a number of ministerial-level prepara-
tory meetings in the lead-up to the main event.
The chair also bears the responsibility of speak-
ing on behalf of the G8 and engaging non-
ABOUT THE G8
G8SUMMIT2012 | 9
member countries, non-governmental organi-
zations and international organizations.
PREPARATORY MEETINGSThe host country organizes several prepara-
tory meetings before the summit. G8 leaders’
personal representatives, known as Sherpas,
attend these meetings to discuss potential
agenda items. The Sherpas, usually high-rank-
ing government officials, communicate directly
with each other throughout the year.
G8 FOREIGN MINISTERS
Foreign and finance ministers have always
played a key role in the G-7/G-8, both at the
summit itself and in the lead-up to the event.
Other ministers meet as required. Since 1998,
foreign and finance ministers have developed
their own agenda and followed up on their
commitments. G-8 foreign ministers deal spe-
cifically with foreign and security policy issues
and they support the efforts of the summit.
Last year the G8 Foreign Ministers met in Par-
is on 14-15 of March. Ministers discussed the
ongoing subjects including: Libya, Broader
Middle East and North Africa ing. further G8
action, and Middle East Peace Process
Finance ministers meet regularly during the
year. At a G-7 finance ministers meeting in
Washington, D.C., in October 2008, for ex-
ample, the ministers drafted a five-point plan
aimed at easing the global financial crisis. It in-
cluded recommendations such as taking steps
to support struggling financial institutions and
unfreeze credit and money markets.
10 | G8SUMMIT2012
Camp David is the country retreat of the
President of the United States and his guests.
It is located in low wooded hills about 62 miles
(100 kilometers) north-northwest of Washing-
ton, D.C., on the property of Catoctin Moun-
tain Park in unincorporated Frederick County,
Maryland, near the small town Thurmont.
It is officially known as Naval Support Facility
Thurmont and is technically a military installa-
tion; staffing is primarily provided by the U.S.
Navy and the U.S. Marine Corps. First known as
Hi-Catoctin.
Camp David was originally built as a camp for
federal government agents and their families,
by the WPA, starting in 1935, opening in 1938.
In 1942 it was converted to a presidential
retreat by Franklin D. Roosevelt and renamed
“Shangri-La”. Camp David received its present
name from Dwight D. Eisenhower, in honor of
his father and grandson, both named David.
Camp David is not open to the public.
Presidential UseageEvery president since Franklin Roosevelt has
made use of Camp David.
Prestigious usage of Camp David by presi-
dents include:
Roosevelt hosted Sir Winston Churchill in
May 1943.
Dwight Eisenhower held his first cabinet
meeting there.
Lyndon B. Johnson often met with impor-
tant advisors at the retreat and hosted
Australian Prime Minister Harold Holt.
the presidential RetreatCAMP DAVID
G8SUMMIT2012 | 11
Gerald Ford hosted Indonesian President
Suharto.
Jimmy Carter brokered the Camp David
Accords there in September 1978 be-
tween Egyptian President Anwar al-Sadat
and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem
Begin.
In 1984, Ronald Reagan hosted the then
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom,
Margaret Thatcher.
George H.W. Bush’s daughter, Dorothy
Bush Koch, was married there in 1992, the
first ever to do so.
Bill Clinton hosted then Prime Minister
of the United Kingdom, Tony Blair, on
several occasions in addition to numerous
celebrities.
George W. Bush hosted dignitaries,
including the then President of Russia,
Vladimir Putin in 2003 and hosted the
then Prime Minister of the United King-
dom, Gordon Brown, in 2007.
This year Camp David was chosen by Presi-
dent Obama to host the 2012 G8 Summit after
being relocated from Chicago, Illinois.
The United States have hosted the G8 Summit
five times in the past which include: San Juan
(1976); Williamsburg (1983); Houston (1990);
Denver (1997); and Sea Island (2004).
Welcome toCamp Davidfor the 2012G8 Summit!
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G8SUMMIT2012 | 13
focus on the fundamentalsby Elliott H. Gue
Three years ago, a spike in commod-
ity prices fueled civil unrest in some
nations and contributed to the worst
global economic downturn in a genera-
tion.
The sharp rise in crude oil prices in early 2011
brought back painful memories of that 2008
price shock and there are myriad signs that ris-
ing energy costs are prompting consumers to
cut back on discretionary spending. Sustained
high prices remain arguably the greatest
downside risk to global economic growth.
Unfortunately, the recent rise in prices has
also prompted a return to the populist rheto-
ric common in the summer of 2008. Oil price
speculators, big oil companies and the US
Federal Reserve’s quantitative easing have all
been blamed for the jump in oil prices.
But, there is a more fundamental driver at
work: rising demand for energy from emerg-
ing markets coupled with constrained sup-
ply. Short-term gyrations aside, these factors
will continue to put upside pressure on crude
oil for years to come and it’s time the world
comes to grip with that reality.
There’s no doubt there are several short-term
catalysts for the rise in oil prices this year. The
conflict in Libya has interrupted roughly 1.5
million barrels per day of light sweet crude oil
exports. Meanwhile, the tragic Sendai earth-
quake in Japan severely damaged the na-
tion’s nuclear and fossil fuel power generation
capacity and is supporting additional demand
for oil and natural gas as alternative sources of
electricity.
But, the rise in commodity prices is far from a
temporary spike. Recent events have served
to accelerate a tightening in global oil markets
that was already apparent long before the first
quarter of 2011.
The good news: the global economy can
withstand a gradual increase in energy prices
that allows time for consumers and businesses
to adjust. But, there are no easy answers to
the global energy crunch -- governments
should
refrain
from
energy:
ENERGY Continued on next page
14 | G8SUMMIT2012
promoting silver-bullet one-size-fits-all energy
solutions.
In particular, wind and solar power will eventu-
ally play a more central role in global electric-
ity generation. But, alternatives are expensive
and difficult to integrate with existing elec-
tricity distribution infrastructure. With public
sector finances in many countries severely
strained by fiscal stimulus measures undertak-
en during the credit crisis and consumers still
reeling from a severe recession, the scale of in-
vestment needed to make these technologies
viable in the near-term is simply out of reach.
Instead, world leaders must recognize that
traditional fossil fuels must continue to play
a central role in global energy supply for the
foreseeable future. Further gains in energy
efficiency and greater use of clean-burning
natural gas will make it possible to meet the
world’s energy needs in an environmentally
responsible and cost-effective way.
The Red HerringsThe Dollar Index measures the value of the US
dollar against a basket of six major global cur-
rencies including the euro, the British pound,
the Canadian dollar and the Japanese yen.
Throughout much of early 2011, this widely
watched indicator hovered near all-time lows.
There are several drivers of weakness in the
dollar but one of the most often-cited is mon-
etary policy. The US Federal Reserve contin-
ues to hold interest rates near zero and has
undertaken two separate rounds of quantita-
tive easing in an effort to stimulate growth. In
quantitative easing (QE), the central bank buys
US government bonds in an effort to boost
their prices and keep yields from rising. This
has helped to push interest rates in the US be-
low those in many of its key trading partners,
making it more attractive to hold euros and
other currencies than dollars.
Like most other major commodities, oil is
priced in dollars and prices tend to rise when
the dollar falls in value. There is no doubt that
prolonged weakness in the US dollar has been
one factor in the rising price of crude oil over
the past few years.
But currencies can’t explain all of oil’s historic
run-up. Consider that over the decade ended
March 31, 2011, the price of crude nearly tripled
in euro terms and jumped 230 percent priced
in yen. And in the first quarter of 2011 alone,
crude oil prices jumped 17 percent priced in
euros. While that’s not as dramatic as the 27
percent rise in Brent oil priced in dollar terms,
consumers in the EU have certainly felt the
pain of higher prices even though the Euro-
pean Central Bank (ECB) has not followed
the Fed in using quantitative easing to loosen
monetary conditions this year.
An even more spurious rationale to explain the
rise in global oil prices is to blame “Big Oil.”
US giant Exxon Mobil, EU-based Royal Dutch
Shell and China’s Petrochina have a combined
market capitalization of nearly $1 trillion and
are among the largest firms in the world but
control less than 8 percent of the world’s oil
production, far from a dominant share. In fact,
the global oil market is among the most com-
petitive and fragmented in the world – big oil
companies don’t set the price of oil.
The large profits generated by these major en-
ergy companies in recent years have attracted
plenty of less-than-favorable media coverage
G8SUMMIT2012 | 15
and prompted demands from some corners
that they be taxed on “windfall” profits. But
it’s important to remember that these same
companies are plowing a large portion of their
profits into exploration and development of
new sources of oil and natural gas production.
With traditional onshore oil fields experiencing
declining production, companies are increas-
ingly turning to more complex and expensive-
to-produce fields located in regions such as
the deepwater or the vast oil sands of Canada.
Capital spending from the same three global
giants was 70 percent higher in 2010 than it
was in 2006, just four years earlier.
If it weren’t for massive investment in these
new sources of energy output, global oil and
gas prices would be even higher than they are
today.
Supply and DemandSpeculators are perhaps most often blamed
for rising oil prices. Proponents of this argu-
ment claim that the recent rally in crude oil
prices has absolutely no grounding in market
fundamentals and is solely caused by investors
allocating more money to tracking crude and
commodity indexes.
Although this is a popular line of reasoning,
such claims are just plain wrong for all but the
shortest of time frames: the rally in crude oil
prices over the past few years has little to do
with speculators and everything to do with
supply and demand.
There’s a popular myth that global oil demand
has remained weak since the 2007-09 reces-
sion. That couldn’t be further from the truth:
Global oil demand is expanding at the fastest
pace in years.
According to the International Energy Agency
(IEA) global oil demand hit 87.9 million barrels
per day in 2010, an all-time high. Here’s some
perspective: in 2007 and 2008, the last time
global oil prices were near current elevated
levels, global oil demand was closer to 86 mil-
lion barrels per day. And in 2010 alone, global
demand jumped by 2.9 million barrels per day
as the global economy bounced back from
recession, the fastest rate of growth in two
decades.
Emerging markets have been and will remain
the most important drivers of global en-
ergy consumption. Consider that from 1999
through 2009 total oil consumption from de-
veloped countries in the Organization for Eco-
nomic Cooperation and Development (OECD)
actually fell by more than 2.1 million barrels of
oil per day. Meanwhile, oil consumption from
nations outside the OECD jumped by more
than 10 million barrels per day. The oil market’s
fascination with week-to-week trends in US oil
consumption and developed world inventories
is fast becoming an anachronism as emerging
markets become the driver of global supply
and demand.
Demand trends in emerging markets are
driven by secular changes and are unlikely
to be reversed. As fast-growing emerging
markets like China and India become wealthier
and disposable incomes grow it’s only natural
that consumers would want to buy the same
sorts of goods as their peers in the developed
world. That spells rising sales of discretionary
items like cars and household appliances that
support higher demand for energy.
“For more than a century, the US was the world’s largest car market; the fact that Chinese car sales have surpassed the US over the past two years
represents an historic shift.”
Sales of passenger cars in China hit a record
high of 1.34 million vehicles per month at the
end of 2010. Despite the slowdown in eco-
nomic growth since early 2010 and the gov-
ernment’s efforts to tighten monetary policy,
Chinese
demand
for cars ENERGY Continued on next page
16 | G8SUMMIT2012
remains robust. Similar trends are underway in
India and other emerging markets. These rap-
idly growing economies will continue to push
global oil demand higher. In fact, by the end
of this year, the global oil market is likely to be
running at close to 90 million barrels of oil per
day, yet another record high.
Oil supply is a more complex matter. Oil supply
growth from outside the Organization of the
Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) was
robust in 2010, expanding by 1.1 million bar-
rels per day. Russian output jumped by about
250,000 barrels per day, while US production
increased by 360,000 barrels per day. Most
analysts see global non-OPEC oil production
growing close to 1 million barrels per day once
again in 2011, historically an impressive growth
rate.
But, this surge in oil production would be im-
possible without rising investment in explora-
tion and production on the part of major en-
ergy firms. And that increased spending is, in
turn, only supported by higher energy prices.
“In recent years, there’s been resurgence in the popularity
of the so-called peak oil theory. Contrary to popular
belief, peak oil does not mean the world is literally running out of oil or that global oil
reserves have been depleted; rather, peak oil refers to the
idea that the rate of global oil production in terms of barrels per day has hit a maximum.”
Global oil production has not yet peaked and
is unlikely to hit a wall over the next five years.
But, peak oil theorists are at least half correct:
increasing global oil consumption is becoming
more difficult, technologically complex and
expensive. World supplies of easy-to-produce
oil have peaked and that has major ramifica-
tions for prices.
Consider that 19 of the world’s 20 largest oil
fields have been in production for more than
30 years. Many of those fields, including Mexi-
can giant Cantarell and China’s Daquing are
widely regarded as past their peak of produc-
tion. Cantarell, in particular, has seen a rapid
decline in production since hitting a peak in
2004 and if Mexico doesn’t soon develop new
oil fields there’s a real risk it will become a net
importer of crude by the end of the decade.
Other giant fields, such as Saudi Arabia’s Gha-
war are thought capable of at least maintain-
ing current production levels for some time to
come.
But, the ageing of the world’s largest oil
fields is a concern as these giants account for
roughly 60 percent of global production and
two-thirds of reserves. And as oil fields age, it
becomes increasingly difficult to maintain, let
alone grow production.
According to the IEA, the average annual
decline rate for mature oil fields is more than
5 percent. That means that producers are
running on a treadmill: every year, companies
must find and develop new fields just to offset
the natural decline rate of the world’s base of
producing oil fields.
To accomplish this feat, companies are increas-
ingly turning to regions such as the deepwater
and that spells a rapid rise in cost. Consider
that producers are drilling in water two miles
(3.2 kilometers) deep and the longest deepwa-
ter wells are around 36,000 feet (11 kilometers)
in length. Oil produced from such reservoirs
is under tremendous geologic pressures and
temperatures, complicating production. The
difficulties faced bringing the 2010 Macondo
oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico under control
offer a stark reminder of just how technically
complex a deepwater oil project can be.
Estimates of the cost of producing oil from
deepwater fields vary widely. And the industry
has learned a great deal from the 2010 Gulf oil
spill; new equipment and operating protocols
will make deepwater drilling even safer but
have likely increased the cost hurdle for deep-
G8SUMMIT2012 | 17
water developments. Average crude oil prices
above $70 to $80 per barrel are a good gen-
eral estimate of the price required to incentive
higher deepwater investment.
And OPEC nations aren’t immune to the rising
costs and complexities of crude oil production.
Saudi Arabia plans to boost drilling activity
by 30 percent over the coming year. About
60 percent of the planned increase will occur
in Manifa, a field that eventually could add as
much as 900,000 barrels per day of produc-
tion capacity.
Located in the shallows, Manifa was discov-
ered in the late 1950s. Scant development
work has occurred over the years because the
field contains tough-to-refine heavy oil and
presents some daunting technical challenges.
For example, in February 2011 Saudi Aramco
announced it had set a record for the longest
well ever drilled in the Kingdom, a 32,136-foot
well in the Manifa.
To develop the field, Saudi Arabia will build 27
artificial islands in the Persian Gulf that will be
connected by a 47-mile causeway. The Saudis
also plan to drill aggressively in an onshore
portion of the field.
The total cost: some $12 to $16 billion by the
time the field starts production in 2013. And
that’s only part of the story as Saudi Arabia
plans to invest as much as $40 billion in new
refineries and petrochemicals projects that will
allow it to produce higher value refined prod-
ucts from Manifa and other heavy oil reserves
in the Kingdom. Suffice it to say that Manifa
is a far more complex and expensive develop-
ment than drilling a handful of simple vertical
wells such as those originally used to produce
many of the nation’s giant fields, including
Ghawar.
Clearly, the Saudis know that Manifa only
makes economic sense when oil prices are
relatively high. The Manifa oil project was origi-
nally slated to begin construction in 2009 with
first oil production in 2011 but was delayed
for roughly two years as commodity prices
slumped in late 2008 and early 2009. There
was simply no point in adding to the nation’s
production capacity with oil prices under $50
per barrel.
“And despite record capital spending from the big oil
firms, smaller independent producers and state-owned
national oil companies (NOCs) in recent years, non-OPEC oil production simply hasn’t been keeping pace with growth in demand.”
That makes OPEC spare capacity—oil produc-
tion capacity that can be started quickly and
maintained--the key to the global oil market.
There are two possibilities: OPEC will dip into
its spare capacity to pump more crude oil or
global inventories will decline rapidly as de-
mand continues to outstrip production.
Either possibility is bullish for oil prices. In the
last quarter of 2010, global oil inventories con-
tracted rapidly as demand surged and OPEC
remained disciplined in controlling its output.
In early 2011, crude oil inventories remained
well-supplied in the US, particularly in the key
oil terminal at Cushing, Oklahoma. But, else-
where around the developed world, invento-
ries tightened sharply in the first quarter and
were hovering near five-year seasonal lows.
Meanwhile, OPEC spare capacity has fallen
sharply, largely due to the loss of Libya’s 1.5
million bbl/day of oil exports. And don’t ex-
pect that output to come online again any-
time soon – intense fighting has likely caused
significant damage to production and export
infrastructure. Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the
United Arab Emirates, among other major
OPEC producers, have dipped into their spare
capac-
ity to
partially ENERGY Continued on next page
18 | G8SUMMIT2012
offset declining Libyan exports. The result: by
the end of the first quarter of 2011, total OPEC
spare capacity stood at less than 4 million bbl/
day, the tightest since the last big run-up in oil
between 2005 and the middle of 2008.
While speculators can certainly influence
crude oil prices in the short-run, the long-term
drivers should be apparent: fast-growing de-
mand and constrained supply. Rising oil prices
are balancing the global market by incentiviz-
ing investment in more expensive and com-
plex-to-produce oil fields and by dampening
global demand growth for oil.
In the short-run, the early 2011 spike in oil
prices is far from a speculative bubble or a bet
on the fate of the US dollar. Rather, oil prices
are simply rallying due to declining inventories
of oil in storage and falling OPEC spare capac-
ity. Oil prices must rally to cool global demand
growth and balance global supply and de-
mand.
Technology is the key to growing oil produc-
tion from complex fields such as those in the
deepwater and complex developments such as
Manifa.
For example, seismic services involve the use
of sound and pressure waves to map under-
ground rock formations that could contain oil
and natural gas. As with most energy-related
services, seismic work has become increas-
ingly complex and technologically advanced in
recent years.
Drilling deepwater wells is extraordinarily
expensive. Day rates for the rig alone can top
$600,000 per day, and a single well can take
90 or more days to drill. In addition to the rig
and crew, producers must pay services firms
to handle a host of tasks, including drilling,
logging and testing the well and managing the
drilling fluid. Drilling alone can cost well north
of $1 million per day.
Given this expense, it’s no surprise that seismic
services account for roughly one-quarter of all
spending on exploration; high-quality seismic
information enables producers to identify the
areas in a basin that are most prospective for
hydrocarbons.
G8SUMMIT2012 | 19
Trial and error is part of the energy business.
However, producers in the deepwater are will-
ing to invest in high-quality data to avoid dry
holes, or wells with no commercial value.
And the need for seismic work doesn’t disap-
pear the minute a new field is identified and
drilled. Companies increasingly rely on seismic
data to determine how best to develop a field
over time and exactly where to sink wells.
Oil services giant Schlumberger’s (NYSE: SLB)
WesternGeco subsidiary is among the world’s
largest providers of seismic services. The seg-
ment was a drag on the firm’s profits during
the 2008 and 2009 commodity price collapse
but looks to be on the cusp of a new wave of
growth.
And Schlumberger is known for its cutting–
edge technology in seismic. The most modern
and advanced seismic ships have equipment
that can generate a high resolution 3D map
of subsurface formations. And companies can
also install seismic equipment that helps pro-
ducers monitor the flow of oil and gas through
a field as its produced over time, data known
as four-dimensional (4D) seismic. Producers
are willing to pay up for quality seismic data.
Like WesternGeco, Norway-based Petroleum
Geo-Services provides higher-end seismic
solutions to deepwater operators, a segment
of the market that offers superior returns. The
company’s high-density 3-D data products
account for 70 percent of new orders, and de-
mand should continue to pick up as E&P firms
target increasingly complex deepwater fields.
Brazil, home to some of the biggest offshore
discoveries, accounts for 15 percent of the
Norwegian firm’s revenue. Petroleum Geo-Ser-
vices has amassed one of the largest libraries
of 3-D seismic data in Brazil, giving it a leg up
in this rapidly growing market.
And France-based Compagnie Generale de
Geophysique Veritas or CGG Veritas, is an-
other pure-play on an improving market for
seismic surveying. The company operates
two business lines: services, which accounts
for roughly 75 percent of overall revenue, and
equipment, which accounts the remaining 25
percent.
The services division is broadly similar to
seismic services offered by Schlumberger and
Petroleum Geo-Services. But Veritas’ Sercel
division, which manufactures and sells seismic
equipment, is a unique and highly profitable
business line that boasts market share of 60 to
65 percent.
The company’s Unite wireless system for on-
shore seismic shoots eliminates the need for
wires and cables connecting individual data
collection devices, reducing setup times and
making it easier to acquire data onshore. In
the marine segment, the company’s advanced
Sentinel seismic system is seeing strong
growth as demand for advanced seismic data
picks up.
And technology goes far beyond just the need
to find new oil fields. Major oil field services
companies including Schlumberger, Weather-
ford, Baker Hughes and Halliburton perform a
long list of crucial tasks surrounding the drill-
ing and production of wells. Examples include
man-
aging
extreme
ENERGY Continued on next page
20 | G8SUMMIT2012
underground pressures, evaluating the produc-
tivity of wells as they’re drilled, and managing
the drilling of horizontal wells.
Increasingly, major services firms are also tak-
ing on integrated drilling projects. Under such
deals major producers contract with a ser-
vices firms to provide all or much of the work
needed to develop a particular field or group
of wells. This can often include leasing drill-
ing equipment, buying necessary equipment
such as pipes and wellheads and handling the
actual drilling of the wells.
No AlternativesThe simple truth: there are no viable and cost-
effective alternatives to crude oil in the short
term. Ultimately, electric cars or gasoline-elec-
tric hybrids could become commonplace as
passenger cars. And, as I’ll detail later, natural
gas will have an increasing role to play as a
transportation fuel, particularly in commercial
vehicles.
But, even in developed markets like the US
where hybrid vehicles have become more pop-
ular in recent years, oil’s dominance has hardly
been dented. According to the US Energy In-
formation Administration (EIA), 97 percent of
all energy used in the US transportation sector
was derived from crude oil in 2010. Natural gas
has made inroads in the US transit bus market
in select cities like Washington DC but still ac-
counts for less than 9 percent of a market still
dominated by diesel. And just under half of
the nation’s commuter and transit rail systems
run on electricity but that’s not as impressive
as it might sound – commuter and transit rail
only accounts for about 0.2 percent of energy
consumed in the US transportation market.
Making a major shift in a market the size of the
US transportation sector takes time. Con-
sider that according to the US Department of
Transportation (DOT), there are more than 255
registered vehicles on the road in the US in-
cluding about 140 million passenger cars. The
current market for new cars is about 14 million
per year – even if a large percentage of new
car buyers were to choose electric and hybrid
cars it would still take many years to shift the
US vehicle fleet to electric.
And such an assumption is unrealistic – sev-
eral new models of hybrid, plug-in hybrid and
electric cars are due to be introduced in the
US over the next few years but even the most
optimistic proponents are looking for mod-
est growth. Electric and hybrid vehicles are
still more expensive than traditional gasoline
cars and current battery technology limits the
range of electric vehicles.
Since there’s no chance of replacing oil as
a transportation fuel in the near future, the
key to minimizing energy costs is efficiency.
And, when it comes to efficiency, necessity
is the mother of invention: Simple economics
has historically driven energy efficiency and
conservation more than any environmental
argument or government mandate.
“One of the best measures of a nation’s energy efficiency
is energy intensity, a measure of energy consumption per
dollar of gross domestic product (GDP). Lower energy
intensity implies greater energy efficiency.”
Consider that between 1987 and 1997, a period
when domestic energy prices generally fell, US
energy intensity declined by about 11 percent .
But energy prices climbed between 1998 and
2008, and energy intensity declined by closer
to 18 percent. Companies became more en-
ergy efficient and innovative because the cost
of using energy rose.
Countries with few domestic resources of
energy--Japan being a classic case--also tend
to be far more energy efficient than nations
with plentiful domestic supply. Japan’s energy
intensity is around 6,492 British thermal units
(BTU) per US dollar of GDP compared to 8,841
G8SUMMIT2012 | 21
BTUs in the US.
When energy prices rise, the cost of doing
business increases; any firm that can reduce
those costs will enjoy higher profit mar-
gins. And the higher energy prices head, the
cheaper and more valuable energy efficiency
and conservation initiatives become. That’s the
basic economic incentive that drives innova-
tion.
Energy efficiency can take many different
forms. In the transportation industry, rising en-
ergy prices have prompted consumers to show
a distinct preference for more fuel-efficient
cars.
In the US, commercial vehicles, trucks and
trains tend to burn diesel. But only about 1
to 2 percent of total passenger car sales are
diesel. This is primarily due to historic reasons–
the first small diesel cars introduced in the
US market were of low quality and delivered
inferior performance. In addition, the US has
not offered the same level of tax breaks for
buying diesel fuel that are offered in western
European countries, reducing the relative cost
benefits. In the US, light distillates, a category
dominated by gasoline, accounts for about
half of all oil-derived fuel consumed. Middle
distillates, including diesel, accounts for about
one quarter of fuel consumed and only a tiny
sliver of that is the passenger car market.
This is not the case in all regions of the world.
In Western Europe close to half of all passen-
ger vehicle sales are diesels in a strong year.
As for total fuel consumption, the relative
importance of light and middle distillates are
reversed from the US case–about half of all oil-
derived fuel consumed is middle distillate and
just 20 to 25 percent is light distillate.
And in China, diesel is also an important trans-
port fuel–about 40 percent of all oil consump-
tion is middle distillates compared to just 25
to 30 percent light distillates. However, China
is more like the US market than Europe in the
sense that gasoline still dominates the local
passenger car market.
Despite the American preference for gasoline,
middle distillates are a slightly more impor-
tant fuel globally, accounting for about 35 to
40 percent of global oil use. Demand is also
growing more quickly–global demand for mid-
dle distillates rose about 23 percent between
1998 and 2008, compared to just 15 percent
for light distillates.
There are some good reasons for that trend.
Diesel offers a fuel efficiency advantage of as
much as 40 percent over a comparable sized
gasoline engine–a significant edge in an era
of generally high and rising energy prices.
Meanwhile, diesel has always been the fuel
of choice for trucks and heavy equipment as
diesel engines offer better hauling and towing
power.
In the passenger market, diesel engine perfor-
mance has improved markedly since the in-
troduction of advanced turbo direct injection
(TDI) diesel cars. Some experts believe the
most modern diesel engines actually offer per-
formance advantages over gasoline-powered
cars. These factors suggest continued growth
in diesel demand relative to other fuels.
But the efficiency of gasoline powered en-
gines has also improved markedly in recent
years. For example, according to the EIA the
average passenger car in the US managed just
16 miles per gallon in 1980 compared to 22.6
mpg in 2008. The gains in fuel efficiency have
also been dramatic in sport-utility vehicles and
light trucks where average fuel economy has
improved from about 12 mpg in 1980 to more
than 18 today.
“Another example of energy efficiency in the transportation sector is the rising popularity of
ENERGY Continued on next page
22 | G8SUMMIT2012
freight rail in countries like the US. A train can haul a ton of freight for more than 400 miles on a single gallon of
diesel fuel, a feat that would be impossible with trucks. And freight rail systems in many countries are far less congested than highways – traffic jams are one of the world’s most unproductive
usesof transportation fuels.”
And there’s a lot more to energy efficiency
than more fuel-efficient cars and the greater
use of advanced diesel engines. Consider the
manufacturing sector where companies have
been spending on advanced factory automa-
tion and control technologies that help to
conserve energy while boosting factory ef-
ficiency. That trend has been a boon to global
industrials such as US-based Honeywell and
Switzerland’s ABB that manufacture and install
such equipment.
Resource EfficiencyAnd there’s another form of efficiency that
gets far less attention: resource efficiency.
As explained earlier, producing enough crude
oil to meet global demand is becoming an
increasingly difficult and expensive process.
That means that the global supply and de-
mand balance for oil is tighter than it is for
other energy-related commodities including
natural gas and coal. That also means that a
British Thermal Unit (BTU) of energy produced
from natural gas or coal has generally been
cheaper than the same BTU produced by us-
ing oil. For example when oil was trading at
$120/bbl in early 2011, a million BTUs of crude
oil cost about $19 while natural gas traded in
the US for less than $5 per million BTUs and at
roughly twice that price in international mar-
kets. It makes sense to substitute more plenti-
ful commodities for oil where possible.
The rapid development of unconventional
shale gas fields in the US and Canada has
revolutionized the North American market.
Two technologies have revolutionized the
G8SUMMIT2012 | 23
production of oil and natural gas from shale
fields in North America: horizontal drilling and
hydraulic fracturing. Horizontal drilling involves
sinking a vertical well to a particular depth and
then drilling sideways. By drilling horizontally,
producers expose a larger portion of their
wells to the most productive parts of the field.
Oil and natural gas aren’t found in giant un-
derground caverns or lakes; these hydrocar-
bons are locked in the pores and crevices of a
reservoir rock. The issue is that in unconven-
tional reserves, the pores aren’t well-connect-
ed, making it tough for the oil or gas to flow
through the reservoir and into a producing
well.
To remedy that problem, producers pump a
mixture of primarily water and sand into the
field. The pressure literally cracks the reservoir
rock, providing paths through which hydrocar-
bons can flow. The sand, or proppant in indus-
try parlance, props open the fissures created
during hydraulic fracturing.
Less than a decade ago, many analysts were
predicting that the North American market
would become increasingly reliant on imports
of natural gas in the form liquefied natural gas
(LNG) to meet demand. But, the shale gas
revolution has resulted in a glut of gas across
North America and depressed prices.
Internationally, prices have tended to be higher
and in many countries natural gas is supplied
under long-term contracts indexed to oil. But
wider global availability of LNG means that
gas is unlikely to become as dear as oil.
What is LNG? When natural gas is cooled to
minus 260 degrees Fahrenheit at a liquefac-
tion facility, it condenses into a liquid that’s
roughly 1/600th its original size. In this form,
large amounts of natural gas can be safely
transported overseas in specially designed
ships. Re-gasification terminals warm the LNG
to return it to its gaseous state before pipe-
lines transmit the product to end users.
This technology is far from a recent innova-
tion; the energy industry has relied on this
technology for over 50 years. But, a surge in
new LNG liquefaction projects in Asia, Africa
and the Middle East in recent years means that
importing countries now have more flexibility
in terms of obtaining their gas supplies.
“Natural gas offers the added attraction of being the
cleanest of the fossil fuels, producing far less pollution in the form sulfur dioxide,
nitrous oxides, mercury and, of course, carbon dioxide than either oil or coal. “
The primary uses of gas worldwide include
electric power generation, industrial and
manufacturing processes and residential heat-
ing. All of these will remain major markets for
gas in coming years; in fact, gas is likely to be
among the fastest growing major sources of
energy in the electric power industry given its
environmental and cost advantages.
And, the expansion of solar, wind and other
intermittent alternative energy technologies
would be impossible without gas. Integrating
renewable energy sources into the electric
grid is a challenge, as the inevitable spikes and
lulls in solar and wind power generation must
be offset with natural gas and other flexible
power sources that can be fired up to ensure
that the supply of electricity meets demand.
Consider that the UK’s and EU’s largest wind
power installation, Whitelee Windfarm, com-
prises 140 wind turbines that stand 70 meters
tall (230 feet) and sport wind-turbine blades
of 40 meters (130 feet) in diameter. The rated
maximum capacity of each wind turbine is
2,300 kilowatts (kw), so the farm’s total in-
stalled capacity is 322,000 kw, or 322 mega-
watts (MW).
But,
what
really ENERGY Continued on next page
24 | G8SUMMIT2012
counts is the load factor, or the ratio of power
generation relative to its capacity. For ex-
ample, a 100 MW plant that produces 75 MW
of electricity in a given month would have a 75
percent load factor.
Over the past two years, the highest average
monthly load factor observed at Whitelee
Windfarm was just shy of 40 percent. In other
words, the entire facility produced just about
122 MW on average that month. To put that
into perspective, the smallest the smallest
coal-fired power plants in the developed world
boast a maximum capacity of 400 to 500 MW
and can operate at this level as long as the
operator keeps feeding them coal.
The power generated at Whitelee Windfarm
also varies dramatically depending on the
month; in its worst 30-day period, the instal-
lation operated at a load factor of 13 percent,
generating less than 41 MW of electricity. On
a daily basis, these fluctuations are even more
pronounced.
Weather patterns also don’t match consumer
behavior; for example, Whitelee Windfarm
posted its weakest monthly load factor in Feb-
ruary 2010, a month where UK power demand
ticked up
because of the
harsh winter.
And consum-
ers aren’t likely
to reduce their
electricity con-
sumption when
the wind dies
down.
To offset
the inherent
variability of
facilities like
Whitelee,
utilities install
shadow capac-
ity that can
feed power to
the grid when
wind genera-
tion fails to meet demand. In the UK, spare
capacity would likely consist of natural gas-
fired power plants.
The amount of spare capacity required de-
pends on how windy it is outside and the
total amount of variable power capacity that’s
installed. A small amount of renewable power
isn’t difficult to integrate with a modern elec-
tricity grid; the peaks and lulls in power output
are easy to offset with existing gas-fired
plants. However, the greater the percentage of
renewable energy capacity, the more of a chal-
lenge this become.
An even bigger potential market for natural
gas is the transportation sector. As outlined
above, oil currently dominates global transpor-
tation but there is scope for a shift. Globally
there are about 7 million vehicles running on
natural gas up from around 2 million in 2001
either in the form of LNG or compressed natu-
ral gas (CNG). In some isolated markets, such
as Argentina, natural gas has already assumed
some importance as a transportation fuel but
globally it remains a niche market.
G8SUMMIT2012 | 25
It would take time for natural gas to make
a dent in the market for passenger cars as
converting existing cars to burn gas can be ex-
pensive and infrastructure in the form of filling
stations, pipelines and refineries is set up to
handle gasoline and diesel, not CNG or LNG.
But the market for commercial trucks and
fleet vehicles offers a near term opportunity.
Fleet vehicles like buses, taxis and waste col-
lection trucks can be refueled from a handful
of centralized stations as they tend to travel
relatively short distances from their base of
operations. And commercial freight vehicles
could be supported using a relatively small
number of refilling stations placed along com-
mon freight routes.
There has been significant talk about subsidiz-
ing the use of natural gas in freight and fleet
applications in recent years, particularly in the
US where low natural gas prices make it a par-
ticularly attractive solution. One company that
should benefit is Clean Energy Fuels, a firm
that builds CNG and LNG refueling stations,
the basic infrastructure that would be needed
to support further growth.
An even more obscure market is natural gas
liquids (NGLs). Natural gas is composed pri-
marily of methane, a hydrocarbon consisting
of one carbon atom bound to four hydrogen
atoms (CH4). But raw natural gas produced
from wells isn’t homogenous; methane typi-
cally occurs with a variety of heavier hydrocar-
bons (NGLs) such as ethane (C2H6), propane
(C3H8) and butane (C4H10). Crude oil, water
vapor, carbon dioxide, nitrogen and sulfur also
mix with raw natural gas.
The components of this mélange vary from
field to field. Some regions produce dry natu-
ral gas, or gas that consists primarily of meth-
ane with little NGL content. In contrast, “wet”
fields such as the Eagle Ford of Texas and the
Marcellus Shale in Appalachia also contain
large quantities of NGLs.
NGLs may not receive as much media atten-
tion as crude oil or natural gas, but they’re
vital energy commodities. Ethane and propane
are commonly employed as petrochemical
feedstock. Ethane is used to make ethylene,
while propane is used to manufacture propyl-
ene--chemicals that form the building blocks
of various plastics. Oil refineries also use NGLs
to boost the octane rating of gasoline.
Historically, petrochemicals producers have
used naphtha, a product derived from crude
oil, to produce basic chemicals such as propyl-
ene and ethylene. But, due to rising production
of NGLs from unconventional fields in places
like North America chemicals manufacturers
like Eastman Chemical, Westlake Chemical and
Dow are boosting their capacity to produce
chemicals from the cheaper NGL feedstock. In
effect, producers are substituting NGLs for oil
in key industrial processes.
Rising oil prices are one of the biggest risks facing
the world economy and the era of cheap oil is over thanks to booming global demand and constrained
supplies. The rally is for real: speculators and the dollar are
far less important than the simple forces of supply and demand. There are no real, cost-effective alternatives
to fossil fuels in the near or intermediate term.
The good news is that the global economy can
adjust to higher prices over time and energy
efficiency and greater use of cleaner, cheaper
natural gas can play a powerful roll in control-
ling costs.
G8SUMMIT2012 | 27
by Roger S. Conrad
“There’s before and after Fukushima:”
Those words from Autorite de Surete
Nucleaire Director Andre-Claude
Lacoste sum up the world’s nuclear
power industry three months after an
historic earthquake and tsunami trig-
gered the world’s second worst-ever nuclear
accident.
France’s Prime Minister Francois Fillon has
since launched a full-scale review of France’s
nuclear power fleet, which supplies more than
80 percent of the country’s electricity. And the
government’s scrutiny extends to the new gen-
eration of reactors as well, which are far-less
reliant on outside power sources to control an
accident and therefore much less vulnerable to
Fukushima-like conditions.
That, however, is about where global consen-
sus begins and ends on nuclear power in the
wake of the radiation leaks at the six Japanese
reactors. As was the case following the world’s
last major nuclear accident—Chernobyl in the
1980s—there’s been an outpouring of opposi-
tion to all things nuclear.
At the epicenter is Germany, where mounting
pressure forced Chancellor Angela Merkel’s
Christian Democrat-led government to retreat
on plans to relicense the country’s existing
plants past the 2022 shutdown date now
enshrined in law. Merkel still paid a price at the
polls in recent elections, which saw the rabidly
anti-nuclear Green Party gain unprecedented
representation around the country.
Germany’s 17 operating reactors currently
generate about 23 percent of the country’s
power. Major utilities E.ON and RWE warn that
renewable energy can’t replace nuclear with
the same degree of system reliability, a course
the government now apparently favors. But
their pleas have largely fallen on deaf ears, as
some 250,000 anti-nuclear Germans recently
gathered in four cities to demand immediate
shut downs of plants.
German opposition has apparently also
spread over into France, where activists have
swarmed to protest a plant built in 1978 and
awaiting relicensing. And they’ve taken their
case to the European Union as well, which is
ramping up its own scrutiny measures against
nuclear plants.
Supporting NuclearReaction to Fukushima elsewhere, however,
has been sharply different. Italy will delay
building a new generation of French reac-
tors, pending future study. But rather than
prescribe massive shutdowns, the response
in most nations has been to step up safety
measures to lessen the chances of devasta-
tion from potential earthquakes. Relicensing of
existing plants continues to proceed and with
very few exceptions, construction of a new
generation of nuclear plants is going ahead.
Nuclear power sta-
Nuclear Power in the Post-Fukushima World
NUCLEAR POWER Continued on next page
28 | G8SUMMIT2012
tions produce about a third of electricity in the
European Union overall, but supply some 80
percent of French power. As a result, French
consumers are far less reliant on either fossil
fuels or renewable energy and pay the sec-
ond lowest prices for electricity in Europe, 36
percent below the EU average. That’s a major
reason a clear majority were set against aban-
doning nuclear power even in the first blush of
the Fukushima accident.
Reflecting the popular will, President Nicolas
Sarkozy has consistently professed confidence
in both France’s currently operating fleet and
its ability to build new plants. Speaking recent-
ly to Electricite de France workers at the plant
in the town of Gravelines in northern France,
the president pledged France will “continue
to invest” in the nuclear industry, and that
nuclear power is safe and essential for energy
independence. He will host a meeting in June
meeting of world’s civil nuclear safety authori-
ties.
As for a planned European Union-wide testing
of nuclear plants, Lacoste says the accident at
Fukushima was a “massive event” that could
totally modify safety requirements at nuclear
installations. But he also says “there is no as-
surance of a total convergence” between what
France will do and what the EU decides. That’s
a pretty clear indication that France will not go
the same route as Germany.
No Three Mile IslandThe US was at the forefront of the 1960s-70s
nuclear building boom, only to pull up the
stakes following the 1978 accident at Three
Mile Island in Pennsylvania. That event trig-
gered mass cancellation of new nuclear plants
and dramatically increased the cost of those
under construction.
Today, anti-nuclear sentiment is still strong
in many parts of the country and odds of
building new Greenfield facilities—i.e. places
other than existing sites—are next to none.
And despite a major push from the Obama
administration to encourage nuclear building,
including $18.5 billion in loan guarantees, few
companies have taken the bait.
On the other hand, the Obama Administration
and a majority of Americans continue to sup-
port increased use of nuclear power, despite
the Fukushima accident. The US Nuclear Regu-
latory Commission itself has stepped up safety
reviews of several plants around the country in
response to Fukushima. But it’s also continued
to approve operating license extensions for
existing nuclear plants.
That includes approving a 20-year license ex-
tension for the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant
on March 25, just days after the accident in
Japan. Remarkably, Vermont Yankee is fiercely
opposed by state government, which claims
the right to veto NRC actions. That the state is
controlled by Democrats—the president’s own
party—demonstrates the Obama Administra-
tion’s resolve to continue supporting nuclear
energy in the US.
Days later, the NRC granted environmental
approval to new nuclear plants being built in
Georgia and South Carolina, saying they posed
no health risks to the surrounding communi-
ties. That leaves just final approval, which is on
track for later this year.
US Department of Energy Chairman Stephen
Chu has indicated there will be no additional
delay in the proceedings due to Fukushima,
stating investigation of the accident and
approvals can proceed at the same time. To
quote: “If you look at the process in which
the NRC approves going forward with con-
struction projects and nuclear reactors, it’s a
thoughtful process. It’s a multiyear process
and because of its very nature, I think these
things can proceed.”
If France’s continued support for nuclear pow-
er is grounded in its dominance of the industry
and the low rates it provides, US support is
G8SUMMIT2012 | 29
based on desire for energy independence and
to cut emissions of carbon dioxide over time.
Legislation to regulate CO2 has stalled in Con-
gress but new rules are being put in place by
the US Environmental Protection Agency.
Nuclear energy is the only realistic alternative
to the coal plants that generate more than 50
percent of US electricity. That’s because the
average wind plant runs at about 20 percent
of its nameplate capacity, and the largest wind
farm has less than 200 megawatts of capacity.
Nuclear reactors, in contrast, run all the time
and are typically more than five times as large.
They also take up far less space.
There are still some battlegrounds over re-
licensing. The Vermont Yankee case is one
and plant owner Entergy is taking the state
to court. The Indian Point plant also owned
by Entergy is another. While not of the same
design as the Japanese reactors, that plant is
located upriver from New York and has drawn
the ire of local politicians.
As state approval is not required for relicens-
ing, shutdown looks extremely unlikely. Also, a
tsunami the size of the one that knocked out
power at Fukushima Daiichi would fully wipe
out New York City long before it became a
problem for the plant. Nonetheless, the fact
that people still want to shut down a plant that
contributes 33 percent of the City’s electric-
ity—and all of its lower cost power—is a strong
indication of how emotional this issue is in
parts of the US.
That definitely includes California, which still
houses two nuclear reactors. One is San Ono-
fre, which is located right on the Pacific Coast
off the highway between Los Angeles and San
Diego. The other is Diablo Canyon, owned by
PG&E and the plant not-too-subtly portrayed
in the movie “The China Syndrome.”
However, the NRC and Obama Administration
refused to close any US nuclear plants as Fu-
kushima struggled. And as for plant relicens-
ing, the NRC has indicated it will stick to its
current multi-year approval process.
As of April 2011, 60 reactors at some 40
different sites have been cleared for license
extensions. There are 19 others that
have submitted applications, located
at 11 facilities. The remaining plants are
expected to file applications between
now and 2017, and there’s no indication
that approval won’t be forthcoming.
The expectation is that operating
costs at some reactors will rise. In fact,
John Rowe, CEO of the largest nuclear
producer Exelon (NYSE: EXC), stated
he expects American regulators will
impose new safety requirements on
nuclear plants that are likely to add
“significant costs.” Particularly targeted could
be Exelon’s plants using a “boiling water”
design like those at Fukushima. Those rising
safety costs will hit earnings and may even
induce some owners to close facilities.
But with the NRC and Energy Department still
supportive, not even those increased costs
should upset nuclear’s solid economics in the
US. In fact, at more than 20 percent of de-
mand—and still the cheapest source of basel-
oad power in most areas—nuclear is basically
irreplaceable in the US. Also note that most
operating nuclear plants in the US have little
or no debt attached. They’ve been paid for
long ago.
Aside from the Geor- NUCLEAR POWER Continued on next page
30 | G8SUMMIT2012
gia and South Carolina projects, new plant
construction in the US is still a slow moving
trend. That even at existing sites, where lo-
cal popular support is strongest and needed
transmission infrastructure and logistical capa-
bility are already in place.
The Georgia project (lead operator South-
ern Company) and South Carolina project
(SCANA) have plenty of both. So did, how-
ever, the South Texas site where NRG Energy
had proposed a nuclear plant. This spring, the
company cancelled the project, blaming fallout
from Fukushima and worries about potential
costs of new safety regulations.
In North Carolina, Duke Energy will proceed
with its preliminary activity to build a new
plant on an existing site. But the state legisla-
ture has put on hold a plan for the company to
recover the estimated $11 billion cost automati-
cally in rates and as incurred, pending further
investigation.
The governor of Virginia remains very sup-
portive of a potential new nuclear plant to be
built by Dominion Resources in Louisa County.
But for the most part, it looks like Southern
and Scana will be the industry guinea pigs, as
companies wait to see what their costs and
challenges will be and what additional safety
measures regulators require in the aftermath
of Fukushima.
Nuclear GrowthFortunately, the global nuclear industry isn’t
depending on the US to spur plant develop-
ment, or for Germany to keep its nuclear
plants running past 2022. Rather, opinion is
solid that existing plants will keep running and
new construction will proceed.
One reason is CO2 regulation, as nuclear
power produces no greenhouse gases. But
many countries like China suffer from chronic
air pollution problems, caused by increasing
reliance on fossil fuels. Nuclear is the only way
to generate the electricity they need with-
out further poisoning the air. And reliance on
imported fossil fuels also opens up emerging
economies to inflation pressures.
That’s the major problem in Japan, which
remains supportive of nuclear despite the
Fukushima accident as the only alternative to
intolerable reliance on imported fossil fuels.
The country is experiencing that right now
with the Fukushima Daiichi plant hobbled. And
a planned overhaul of several other plants to
protect against future earthquakes and tsuna-
mis will only make matters worse in summer
cooling season.
Before Fukushima, China and Rus-sia were the two countries with the
biggest plans for nuclear power. That remains true today, though
China did initially make statements that it would delay building until the Fukushima accident could be
more fully investigated.
According to the World Nuclear Association,
China’s current nuclear count is 13 plants in op-
eration and 26 under construction. A total of
34 have been approved by the State Council,
which sets energy policy.
Current plants call for a 10-fold increase in the
country’s nuclear power output to 400 giga-
watts by 2050, and the country is well on its
way to meeting an intermediate term goal of
80 GW by 2020. Most nukes are on the south
G8SUMMIT2012 | 31
and east of the country, with a preponderance
on the coasts.
The first plant was the two reactor Daya Bay
complex serving Guangdong province, a
pressurized water reactor with a nameplate
capacity of 944 megawatts. But the country is
now spearheading the effort in a wide range of
designs.
Despite early lip service paid to anti-nuclear
worries, reactor building got back on track in
May in China. The reactor building dome of
unit 2 at the Yangjiang nuclear power plant in
China was installed, 16 days ahead of schedule.
Meanwhile, the second ring of the containment
vessel of unit 2 at the Haiyang plant was lifted
into place.
If China remains committed to nuclear energy,
Russia is doubly so. At a business confer-
ence organized in Berlin by newspaper Sued-
deutsche Zeitung following the Fukushima
accident, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin
was quoted: “The German public does not like
the nuclear power industry for some reason,
But I cannot understand what fuel you will
take for heating. You do not want gas, you do
not develop the nuclear power industry, so you
will heat with firewood? You will have to go to
Siberia to buy the firewood there.”
Speaking later at a meeting of the Valdai
International Discussion Club in the Black Sea
resort of Sochi, the Prime Minister predicted
demand for energy sources will soar over the
next few years. Regarding the widespread
view that renewable energy can pick up the
slack, he stated “You couldn’t transfer large
electric power stations to wind energy, how-
ever much you wanted to. In the next few
decades, it will be impossible. Nuclear energy
is the only real and powerful alternative to oil
and gas. Other approaches to meeting future
energy demand are claptrap.”
Russia’s nuclear efforts are similar to those in
fossil fuels: The country wants to enhance its
energy exports, particularly to Europe. Current
building efforts include deals with India for
fuel and cooperation agreements with Kazakh-
stan. The country is also in effect competing
with Lithuania to build three plants in the
Baltic region, including two reactors using its
VVER-1200 pressurized water reactors.
Russia’s primary nuclear producer Rosatom
is for the first time looking for foreign part-
ners to take up to 49 percent ownership of a
nuclear project. One candidate is Italian power
giant Enel, which has been temporarily sty-
mied in its attempts to build a new generation
of Italian nuclear plants by fallout from the
Fukushima accident. A cooperation agreement
has now been signed by Enel chief Fulvio
Conti and Boris Kovalchuk of Inter RAO UES
to develop plans for the export and distribu-
tion of a “significant proportion” of power
from two reactors.
According to the World Nuclear Association, Russia’s current nuclear
count is 31 operating reactors totaling 21,743 megawatts. Overall capacity is projected to grow more than 50
percent by 2015 and to at least double by 2020. That includes plans by
Rosatom to build up to eight floating nuclear power plants by 2015.
As in the US—where nuclear power’s operating
rate has surged from under 60 percent to over
90 percent in the last 30 years—Russia has
also seen a quantum leap in plant efficiency.
Capacity factors averaged just 56 percent in
the 1990s, but have since risen over 80 per-
cent, with a goal of 90 percent plus by 2015.
That’s a huge plus for nuclear power econom-
ics globally.
The PlayersProducing 75 percent of France’s electricity
from nuclear plants and the dominant owner
of reactors in the UK as well (another country
still supporting new
plants), Electricite NUCLEAR POWER Continued on next page
32 | G8SUMMIT2012
de France has the furthest flung interests in
nuclear power. The company has thus far been
stymied in efforts to build plants in Italy and
the US, but remains a major contender with a
long-term view.
Other prominent nuclear power producers in
Europe include EDF’s main French rival GDF
Suez, Italy’s dominant electricity company
Enel and Finland’s Fortum. Germany’s EON
and RWE are also big producers, but appear
doomed to shutter their reactors within the
next 10 years, if not sooner.
In the US, Exelon is by far the largest player
in nuclear power, with all of its capacity sold
into the wholesale market. Low natural gas
prices in North America have pushed down
power prices in many markets, one reason for
the company’s reluctance to build new nuclear
plants. But its operating rate remains superior
and its operations soundly profitable.
Other major players include Entergy—the sec-
ond largest owner of US nuclear plants—Do-
minion Resources, Duke Energy, First Energy
and Southern Company. Constellation Energy,
which operates five plants in the US, is in the
process of merging with Exelon.
Turning to manufacturers of new plants, the
AP1000 is the design used by both Southern
Company and SCANA in the US, and is widely
used throughout China. It’s the product of
Westinghouse, a unit of Toshiba.
The AP1000’s typical capacity is 1250 mega-
watts. It differs from the boiling water reactors
and pressurized water reactors in that it does
not require outside power to cool the reactors.
In the event of an earthquake/tsunami event
such as struck Japan this year, the reactors
would shut down without incident.
The AP1000 is the major vehicle for China’s
move to Generation III technology in nuclear
energy. The country’s first four reactors with
the design are being built at Sanmen and
Haiyang. At least eight more at four sites
will go up soon after, and about 30 more are
proposed. The construction timeline is roughly
50 months from first concrete to fuel loading,
then six months to grid connection.
China is also building EPR reactors developed
by France’s Areva. These are still larger reac-
tors, with a typical capacity of 1660 mega-
watts. This is also the design favored by EDF
globally, and is being used at the Gravellines
site in northern France.
Other players include Russia’s Atomstroyex-
port, developer of the VVER reactors being
constructed in the Baltics. These reactors in-
corporate Finnish safety features and Siemens-
Areva instrumentation and control systems.
Russia’s Energoatom is responsible for mainte-
nance. These are also being used in China.
China Huaneng Group, owner of Huaneng
Power, is the lead organization in a consortium
to build the demonstration Shidaowan HTR-
PM reactor with China Nuclear Engineering &
Construction Group (CNEC) and Tsinghua Uni-
versity’s INET, which is the R&D leader. Finally,
fast neutron reactors FNRs) are seen by some
as the main technology by 2050.
Finally, uranium remains the primary fuel for
nuclear power plants, providing a long-term
opportunity for companies that mine it safely.
One of the premier plays: Canada’s Cameco,
whose Cigar Lake facility is on track to be-
come one of the world’s most prolific resourc-
es.
From an investment point of view, the unfortunate events at Fukushi-
ma Daiichi in Japan have depressed the value of all nuclear power play-ers. The industry, however, is alive and well—and a profit opportunity
for those who recognize it.
Too often our media focuses only on major disasters affecting millions of people in the poorest countries of the world, and it is easy for us to feel helpless in the face of such suffering. Yet when Victoria Ferguson first visited Kenya in 2006, she was so moved by the plight of Mombasa’s street children that she resolved to help in whatever way she could.
Vicky spent five months of her gap year as a volunteer working with the street children and youths during that time she met many inspirational social and youth workers who are now part of the Glad’s House family. Vicky made a vow to work alongside them to establish a centre for Street Children and on her return home to the UK co-founded with her parents, Glad’s House, a charity working on-the-ground in Mombasa, Kenya to improve the lives of the city’s street children and youths, giving them the chance of a real childhood be-fore supporting them to become self-sufficient adults. Glad’s House shows it’s possible to make real changes one life at a time, proving that small amounts of money can make a big difference.
By engaging the help of her parents, Cliff and Jan, now Glad’s House Chairman and Secretary, Victoria is able to split her time between Mombasa and the UK.
Her father Cliff runs the UK operations, raising funds and delivering the resources required in Kenya. Both Cliff and Jan make regular visits to see for themselves the work that can be done with even limited resources. From a standing start in 2006, the charity has already touched the lives of countless street children.
Cliff says, “Glad’s House is a small charity with a nar-row focus. But this allows us to see real results in indi-vidual children. Their lives can be transformed”
Victoria says, “The generosity we have experienced from people since establishing this charity never ceas-es to touch or amaze me. Through their support we are able to achieve so much and make a difference to so many children’s lives.”
Who are the Street Children?They are children from diverse backgrounds, aged be-tween five and eighteen, who have been orphaned, abandoned by their parents or fled their home and are forced to live without any care or protection on the streets. Their lives are a daily struggle to find food and shelter, often funded by petty crime or prostitution. Many are addicted to glue, a substance which allevi-ates their hunger and is cheaper than food. Frequently the children band together, as children do all over the world, providing help and support for each other as they have no home, no school, no family other than their friends on the street.
Street children live in abandoned buildings, cardboard
boxes, parks or on the street itself. Some still sleep in a house but often with ‘unsuitable’ adults. There are as many 250,000 children living like this in Kenya, with approximately 35,000 in Mombasa alone.
It is easy to turn away, to assume that the children in question are in some way to blame for their own situ-ation, but Glad’s House is founded on the belief that children with no home belong to us all.
How is Glad’s House helping thesechildren?
Glad’s House is building a community-based care and support facility for street children and Youths, as well as for children from disadvantaged backgrounds, and the local community.
The project involves a process known as the 4-Rs: Res-cue, Rehabilitation, Re-socialization and Reintegration. Here at “the Base” children and youths are assisted in re-joining the Kenyan school system or to begin voca-tional training programmes. It provides a vital sanctu-ary for children from a life of poverty, homelessness
and crime. Children and youths from the surround-ing neighbourhood are also given the chance to access education, arts, sports and medical aid. The children visit the cen-tre on a daily basis and are given food, healthcare and counselling. They are also helped to find and reunite with their families.
Existing projectsOne of the ways Glad’s House currently works to improve street children’s
lives is through sport. Partnering with MOYO (Mom-basa Olympic Youth Organisation) – established by a
former Kenyan Olympic athlete, Fred ‘Bokey’ Achola – the charity provides sports kit and funding for box-ing, soccer, basketball, volleyball, tae kwando and oc-casional rugby teams. The children are supported and given the motivation to stay away from drugs and crime while enjoying a very real break from their day-to-day existence.The charity has also established local businesses – a cyber café, a matatu (Kenyan transport system), bi-cycle shop, cobblers, sports shop and carpentry shop – all of which provide employment opportunities for the local community and children moving away from the street. They have also created an innovative programme in association with Vipingo Ridge Golf Resort, where 44 young people have been trained as caddies and now work full-time on the course. This project was partially funded by the European Tour and fully supported by the European Tour Caddies Association.
A personal story by Victoria Ferguson“Nicholas Karani”When I started in care work one of the first rules I was told was that I couldn’t have favourites... then I met Nicolas Karani, and I like everyone else who met him
instantly fell under his spell! Karani as he was known, was a very special human being, he had an energy around him that was infectious and even the most mis-erable person in the world would be melted by Karani’s charm. Karani was tiny for his age, he had been on the street from a very young age and mal-nourishment plus too much glue had stunted his growth and addled his brain, but this didn’t matter to anyone around him. He was your classic street boy; dirty, always with a glue bottle in hand, a free spirit, a survivor. However, like most children, the street got the better of him in the end. If Karani had had a different start in life I have no doubt he would have gone far, but he didn’t, he was, from too young an age made to sniff glue, so he wasn’t afraid at night and so that the hunger in his stomachwasn’t the overpowering sensation in his life. Karani was a victim of his situation and like all of his peers did what he had to do to try and survive on a daily ba-sis. For me Karani is the personification of why Glad’s House exists and why it is so important we offer sup-port for children on the street. We need to stop the Ka-ranis of this world dying for no reason. No child should have to live on the street and no child should die on the street.
In November 2010 Victoria won the ‘Ultimate Interna-tional Angel’ category at The Cosmopolitan Ultimate Women of the Year Awards. The annual awards, spon-sored by Avon, celebrate the remarkable stories of the nation’s ultimate real-life women and inspiring celebri-ties.
The FutureThe main focus now is to build a proper community centre providing high quality services for both children and youth.
The programme will:Rescue, rehabilitate, re-socialise and reintegrate abandoned and vulnerable children back into the family unit and communityIncrease community understanding and aware-ness of the rights of children as a way of stemming the flow of children on to the streetsIncrease vulnerable children’s access to basic edu-cation and vocational training opportunitiesIncrease vulnerable children’s access to basic health services and informationEstablish a sustainable child-care and support model for street children, which could be scaled up and replicated in other communities
When completed the centre will incorporate offices, a kitchen, plus a dining hall to feed our children and youths, a few ‘emergency’ bedrooms, a dispensary/medical centre and classrooms. The latter two would be used by current street children, ex street children and members of the community of Magongo.
Glad’s House has been slowly growing over the past five years and there have been some very special mo-ments along the way. These include being the nomi-nated charity for Sky TV’s ‘Soccer AM’ for two sea-sons, the Chelsea Legends playing 5 a side football in Spitalfields Market for Glad’s House and the Caddie Programme being supported by The European Tour. But the real highlight has to be seeing Glad’s House grow into a pioneering and high quality project for the street children and youth in Mombasa and, of course, street children and youths leaving the street and suc-cessfully standing on their own two feet.
If reading about the work and aspirations of Glad’s House has left you feeling inspired to make a donation, no matter how small, please help by visiting www.gladshouse.com, it’s easy to make a difference, one life at a time.
Where Small donations make a BIG difference!Registered UK Charity No. 1115744Registered Kenyan NGO No. OP.218/051/2010/0119/6304
by Dr. Aaron Barson
Since time immemorial the quest for beauty has been a constant in all societies of which we have written records. This quest for skin beauty has been a goal that covers all periods of time, all races and both sexes. Over thou-sands of years many products have been used to enhance the skin, especially in women. In our present-day, cosmetic enhancements to the female face and body have reached the point where it is a major industry. There is also no lack of interest in homebrewed substances that hold the promise of eternal youth and beauty. With all of the emphasis on enhancing natural beauty through the use of substances and materials not manufactured by the body, we now have many thousands of products purporting to improve beauty and skin health. What is lacking in this quest for eternal youth is the use of internal treatments to enhance skin beauty.
It seems that most efforts at improving the skin’s condition and appearance are almost
always topical in nature. Looming problems with using surface nutrients and vitamins to improve the skin lies in the construction of the epidermis or outer layer of your skin. The outer layer consists of skin cell remnants called keratinocytes. These are the cellular remains of the epidermal cells after they have under-gone internal conversion to a protein called keratin. This keratin substance is very resistant to mechanical stress and chemical attack. Is this layer of dead skin cells that armor plates your skin against the many assaults from the outside world. It is also the reason that substances applied topically do not work as effectively as one might desire. The kerati-nocyte layer of the epidermis is a wonderful barrier that protects us but also does not allow for much nutrition to reach the skin through the surface.
It may sound like science fiction, but new nutritionals developed for the US space pro-gram may hold the secret to younger-looking skin. A nutritional combination of superfruits was created to help protect American as-
Better skin from outer space
tronauts against radiation exposure in space flight, but has been found to have amazing properties that can help smooth out wrinkles and blemishes. On the radiation protec-tion side, a trial carried out at the University of Pittsburgh last year and published in the Radiation Research Journal showed that the NASA nutritional supplements high level of an-tioxidants provided strong protection against oxidative stress.
Oxidative stress is the end result of radiation passing through the water in your body and is responsible for everything from aging skin to how long we might live. In a recent skin study carried out at Surface Medical Spas in Utah, the NASA supplement was shown to reduce wrinkles by almost a fifth, UV spots by almost a third and red spots by almost half in only three months. Dr Aaron Barson, the cosmetic physician that carried out this unique study, believes that reactive oxygen species (ROS) created by both radiation exposure and other natural processes, can harm the body in many ways. These reactive oxygen molecules or “free radicals” can create cell damage that has been linked to everything from cancer to Alzheimer’s disease. “Think of them as little Pac-men taking bites out of molecules that are essential for cells to function,” says Dr Aaron Barson, “This is how radiation exposure kills: the body is overwhelmed by ROS that cause cellular damage that the body can’t repair.” While the precise mechanism is not known, Dr Barson says skin condition improves because the large quantities of antioxidants in the NASA supplement can ward off oxidative stress.
Antioxidants in the superfruits attach them-selves to ROS and neutralize them before they can cause damage. Dr Barson thinks that the skin may be the tissue most helped by reduc-ing ROS and oxidative stress because it is the first body tissue (it’s on the outside of us) to be exposed to the environmental stressors of life. The most common example is the skins exposure to ultraviolet light in sunlight. The skin is the only tissue that “sees” this exposure because it is on the outside of us. Dr Barsons study shows that the skin greatly benefits from a reduction in this oxidative stress and the skin can heal itself if the oxidative stress is reduced. “This is not a facelift in a bottle, but it is extremely powerful,” says Dr Barson. “We have never seen anything as powerful as this as far as its effect on the skin and the different parameters of damage by which we evaluate it.
I believe the future of skin care will be oral rather than topical. ”The drink contains the juice of five different super fruits – cupuaçu, açaí, acerola, prickly pear and yumberry – which as well as being high in antioxidants, contain phytochemicals, vitamins, flavonoids, glyconutrients and essential oils. The “Nasa Quintet” is also a vital ingredient, a complex extract of grape, green tea, pomegranate, veg-etables (broccoli and spinach) and wild berries (blackberry, cranberry, blueberry and straw-berry. Dr Barsons research is ongoing.
38 | G8SUMMIT2012
In 2008, history was made when Barack Obama was elected as the first African American President of the United States of America. This will be the fourth G8 Summit and his first as the host president. In March 2012 he changed the location of
the G8 Summit from his hometown of Chicago, Illinois to the Camp David in Maryland.
He sponsored State Children’s Health Insurance Program which will help 4 million more children, including immigrants, receive healthcare with no waiting period. He issued orders to suspend all proceedings at Guantanamo Bay detention camp in Cuba and have it closed within the year.
ENVIRONMENTAL DIRECTIONThis will be President Obama’s fourth attendance at the G8 Summit. During his current term, President Obama has already made several environmentally sound initiatives.
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 is a stimulus package that was signed into law by President Obama on February 17th, 2009. This stimulus package includes approximately $60 billion in clean energy investments including low income home weatherization, state and local renewable energy and energy efficiency efforts, grants
to develop energy storing batteries and an advanced grid system to move renewable energy where it is most used. Additionally, the Obama Administration has created a website to track these efforts, recovery.org.
President Obama directed the Department of Transportation to establish higher fuel economy standards for Model Year 2011 and beyond cars and trucks, enabling them to get better fuel mileage. This direction was made in order to prompt transportation companies to create more innovative energy saving products. Mr. Obama also issued a memorandum to the Department of Energy to develop tougher energy efficiency standards for household appliances including dishwashers, refrigerators and stoves.
In 2009, revealed a program to developing renewable energy projects on the waters of our Outer Continental Shelf. These projects include renewable energy that produces electricity from wind, wave and ocean currents.
USA ON THE HORIZONBarack Obama is currently campaigning for his second term as President of the United States. He will be running against the whichever Republican candidate wins GOP nomination, which as of May 2012 looks to be former Massachusetts Govenor, Mitt Romney.
1961 Born in Honolulu, Hawaii.
1985 Director of the Developing Communities Project.
1991 Receives Juris Doctor magna cum laude from Harvard Law School.1992 Professor of constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School.
1997 Senator of Illinois.
2005 United States Senator.
2008 Elected President of the United States.
2011 Ordered the military operation that resulted in the death of Osama bin Laden.
BARACK OBAMA HISTORY
Barack Obama
40 | G8SUMMIT2012
The United States of America is known as
a melting pot of cultures and ethnicities.
Known as the land of opportunity,
such diversity has sprouted many
innovative ideas like the invention of
the telephone, motion pictures and
motor vehicles, just to name a few.
The United States has fifty metropolitan areas
with populations greater than 1 million. The
overall growth rate is 0.89%, compared to
0.16% in the European Union.
Operating under a constitutional federal
republic, the United States is made up of 50
states and a federal district. It was structured
as a democracy regulated by checks
and balances set up by the United States
Constitution.
ECONOMY AT A GLANCEThe United States has what is considered a
capitalist economy comprised of rich natural
resources and the labor of converting those
natural resources into goods and technologies.
It is the world’s largest national economy.
The United States is the largest importer
of goods, with vehicles as the number one
import, and is the third largest exporter in the
world, with electrical machinery at the top
of the list. Canada, China, Mexico, Japan and
Germany are the United States major trading
partners and it ranks at eighth in nominal GDP
per capita.
Currently, United States is experiencing the
worst economic decline since The Great
Depression which began in 1929. Over the
past several years, the housing market has
hit record lows, unemployment rates have
reached record highs and consumer spending
has been weary. Due to these poor conditions,
many foreign trading partners with the U.S.
are being deeply affected.
In what may be a bold attempt to breathe
life back into the U.S. economy in February
2009, President Obama signed the American
Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The act
is designed save and create over three
million jobs, increase college affordability
for students, create a new infrastructure and
provide tax credits and tax cuts to over 129
million working households. This $787 billion
stimulus package could be the investment
America needs for a brighter future.
The United States of America
G8SUMMIT2012 | 41
GLOBAL EFFORTSThe United States has been heavily involved in
bringing humanitarian aid to countries world-
wide through federal government agencies
like USAID. This agency focuses on providing
humanitarian efforts to Sub-Saharan Africa,
Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean,
Europe and Eurasia and the Middle East. The
USAID is committed to providing aid by way
of economic growth, agriculture and trade,
global health and conflict prevention and
humanitarian assistance.
More recent humanitarian efforts by the USAID
is being focused on aid for the pandemic
swine flu, the global fight against the HIV/
AIDS pandemic, the global food crisis caused
by higher food prices, and addressing the
needs of conflict affected areas of Somalia.
The USAID counts on continuous charitable
donations of money, food and goods that can
go to various countries.
Also on the Global spectrum, through the
Global Climate Change Policy the United
States hopes to reduce greenhouse gasses by
18% over the next decade. The policy, along
with other policies that may come into affect
soon, helps continue the United States’ role in
leading support for research regarding climate
change, resources for in science and technology
and working with different institutions to find
solutions to the climate crisis.
Official Name: United States of America
Land Area: 3,794,101 sq. miles (9,826,675 sq. kilometers)
Population: 313,533,000
Capital: Washington, D.C.
Government: Constitutional Republic
Head of State: President Barack Obama
Principal Language: English
Life Expectancy: 75 Years (male)80 Years (female)
Currency: United States Dollar
GDP Per Capita (US$): $48,386
1917 Enters World War I.
1920 Women gain right to vote.
1929 Stock market crashes. Great Depression begins.
1947 Enters World War II after attack on Pearl Harbor.
1965 Enters Vietnam War.
1969 Neil Armstrong is first person to walk on moon.
1974 President Nixon is investigated for Watergate scandal and resigns.
1991 Enters Gulf War.
2001 September 11 attacks.
2003 Invades Iraq.
2008 Barrack Obama first black American elected President of United States.
United States of America - continued
UNITED STATES SNAPSHOT
UNITED STATES HISTORY
42 | G8SUMMIT2012
On 11 May 2010, following the resignation of Gordon Brown as Prime Minister and on his recommendation, Queen Elizabeth II invited Cameron to form a government. At
age 43, Cameron became the youngest British Prime Minister since Lord Liverpool, who was appointed in 1812. Mr. Cameron is a descendant of King William IV and was born into a family with both wealth and an aristocratic pedigree.
In his first address outside 10 Downing Street, he announced his intention to form a coalition government, the first since the Second World War, with the Liberal Democrats. Cameron outlined how he intended to “put aside party differences and work hard for the common good and for the national interest.” As one of his first moves Cameron appointed Nick Clegg, the Liberal Democratic leader, as Deputy Prime Minister.
ENVIRONMENTAL DIRECTIONThe Conservative Government will make Britain greener by tackling climate change and protecting and enhancing the environment. They have pledged to improve Britain’s environment by working towards zero waste, providing incentives to recycle,
encouraging sustainable water management, and taking action to help our wildlife at home and internationally. In their manifesto, the Conservatives promised “to be the greenest government in our history.”
The Conservatives have also outlined plans to modernise the national grid to deliver power more cheaply, subsidise home insulation projects, and make more use of green technologies including electric cars and off-shore windfarms.
Publishing his party’s “Plan for a Low Carbon Economy,” Mr Cameron said that changes in the way that Britain generates, distributes and consumes electricity will save families significant amounts of money as well as benefiting the environment.
There is an urgent need to improve the protection of their marine environment, as many of their fish stocks have been over-exploited. The Conservatives vow to fight for wholesale reform of the Common Fisheries Policy to encourage sustainable practices, give communities a greater say over the future of their fishing industries, and bring an end to the scandal of fish discards.
1988 Conservative research department
1992 Special advisor, Treasury and Home Office
1994 Head of corporate affairs, Carlton Communications
1996 Married Samantha Sheffield
2003 Shadow deputy leader of the Commons
2004 Conservative party deputy chairman
2005 Leader of the opposition
2010 Apppointed Prime Minister of United Kingdom
DAVID CAMERON HISTORY
David Cameron
44 | G8SUMMIT2012
The United Kingdom is composed
of four remarkable regions
which include Great Britain,
Northern Ireland, Isle of Man
and The Channel Islands. With
its distinct landscape made up
of breathtaking lakes, rolling hills, picturesque
shorelines and dense forests echoing a nation’s
history, it’s no wonder that for its small size
the United Kingdom boasts one of the most
culturally diverse and compact populations in
Europe.
The government is made up of a parliamentary
democracy and is a member of the European
Union and Commonwealth of Nations. The
United Kingdom is also a constitutional
monarchy with Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II
as head of state.
ECONOMY AT A GLANCEThe United Kingdom’s economy is made
up of the economies of England, Scotland,
Wales and Northern Ireland. As leaders in the
industrial revolution they have always had a
strong hold on economic development and the
service industry has developed considerably,
establishing about 73% of the UK’s GDP.
From London’s Big Ben Clock Tower to the
mysterious astral Stonehenge the United
Kingdom is known for some of the most
recognizable landmarks in the world. Boasting
over 32 million tourists in 2006 alone, tourism
has always been a very lucrative business for
the United Kingdom. In fact, both international
and domestic tourists contribute billions of
pounds each year towards the UK’s economy.
High export revenues can be attributed to
the chemical industry and United Kingdom
is the leader in financial, pharmaceutical,
software and defense industries. Some other
profitable endeavors involve revenues from
coal reserves, North Sea oil and natural gas
with their primary trading partners including
many other European Union countries as well
as the United States.
GLOBAL EFFORTSThe United Kingdom is constantly looking for
ways to stay deeply involved in the growth and
welfare of the world. Two of the more pressing
issues involve the development of Africa and
the World’s climate crisis.
United Kingdom
G8SUMMIT2012 | 45
Keen interest has been given regarding the
future of Africa by backing a debt relief
agreement. The agreement details that large
retailers in the United Kingdom will make
strong efforts to use their buying power to
assist the developing countries in the world.
Already, a million quality fruits and vegetables
are being sold in the UK that are grown from
these developing countries. This is just a start
in the hope to pave a path for big business
to assist these evolving countries not only
through aid, but through agricultural trade as
well.
Active involvement of the United Kingdom
in reducing planetary greenhouse gas
emissions is one of the central concerns
being concentrated on in recent years. They
are focusing efforts to make their mark
through the many environmental projects
and initiatives laid down by the government.
UK Scientist and environmental advisors to
the government are studying the positive
effects of biofuels replacing petroleum based
fuels versus the negative effects of biofuel
production. This is to ensure that the loss of
plant-life does not outweigh the benefits of
our removed dependence on fossil fuels. This
is a clear demonstration of the high character
in leadership in the United Kingdom, to be
responsible in its actions by not simply following
guidelines of the established consensus.
Official Name: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Land Area: 94,060 sq. miles (243,610 sq kilometers)
Population: 62,262,000
Capital: London
Government: Constitutional Monarchy
Head of State: Queen Elizabeth II
Prime Minister: David Cameron
Principal Language: English
Life Expectancy: 77 Years (men); 82 Years (women)
Currency: British Pound
GDP Per Capita(US$): $38,592
1914 Enters World War I.
1939 Enters World War II.
1952 Elizabeth II becomes Queen.
1969 Capital punishment abolished.
1979 Margaret Thatcher becomes first woman prime minister.
1994 Channel Tunnel links Britain back to European continent.
2004 English population reaches 50 million.
2010 Gordon Brown resigns as Prime Minister.
United Kingdom - continued
UNITED KINGDOM HISTORY
UNITED KINGDOM SNAPSHOT
46 | G8SUMMIT2012
Vladimir Putin was re-elected President of Russia since May 7, 2012. Putin previously served as President from 2000 to 2008 and as Prime Minister of Russia from 1999 to 2000, and again from 2008 to 2012. Putin also serves
as chairman of United Russia and Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Union of Russia and Belarus.
Because of constitutionally mandated term limits, Putin was ineligible to run for a third consecutive presidential term. After his successor Dmitry Medvedev won the 2008 presidential election, Putin was nominated by Medvedev to be Russia’s Prime Minister. In September 2011, Putin and Medvedev agreed he should seek a third, non-consecutive term in the 2012 presidential election, which he won.
Putin is skipping G8 this year and send his Prime Minister Demitri Medvedev in his place. The Russian leader told Obama by phone that he is unable to join the other leaders of the G8 leaders on May 18-19 because he needs to finish work setting up his new Cabinet.
ENVIRONMENTAL DIRECTIONPutin also presided over resuming the construction of major hydropower plants,
such as the Bureya Dam and the Boguchany Dam, as well as the restoration of the nuclear industry of Russia, with some 1 trillion rubles ($42.7 billion) allocated from the federal budget to nuclear power and industry development before 2015. A large number of nuclear power stations and units are currently being constructed by the state corporation Rosatom in Russia and abroad.
RUSSIA ON THE HORIZONOn his first day as President, Putin issued 14 Presidential decrees, including a lengthy one stating wide-ranging goals for the Russian economy. Other decrees concerned education, housing, skilled-labor training, relations with the European Union, the defense industry, inter-ethnic relations, and other policy areas dealt with in Putin’s programme articles issued during the Presidential campaign.
1994 First deputy head of St. Petersburg administration
1998 Head of the FSB
1999 Appointed as one of Boris Yeltsin’s Deputy Prime Ministers
1999 Appointed Acting President upon Boris Yeltsin surprise resignation.
2000 Inaugurated President of Russia
2004 Re-elected President with a 71% vote
2008 Became Dmitry Medvedev’s Prime Minister
2012 Re-elected President of Russia for a non-consecutive third term
Vladimir Putin
VLADIMIR PUTIN HISTORY
G8SUMMIT2012 | 47
Dmitry Medvedev was the third President in the history of the Russian Federation and is not the current Prime Minister for newly elected Presdient Vlademir Putin. Though never
previously holding an elected office, he has stood strong in the face of any adversity that has come his way. Prime Minister Medvedev is quickly becoming known for his charismatic nature and his ability to take a new stance against corruption.
ENVIRONMENTAL DIRECTIONDuring his first term of then President Vladimir Putin, the duties of environmental governance was shifted to the Natural Resources Industry. This was an attempt to centralize the direction and lead to a more stable approach to environmental policy making. However, all of the power for environmental control and natural resource policy making was moved to this same ministry, placing the supervision of how the resources are spent and then protected into one governing body.
Prime Minister Medvedev and President Putin have both spoken of a greener Russia. Both men have stated that the interests of the environment should now be of importance to
all levels of government. Mr. Medvedev has also stated that more severe penalties need to be put into action for businesses who are heavy polluters. Currently, the cost of an environmental fine is many times less the cost of investing in meeting local environmental guidelines.
Though Russia has also experienced loss in the Global economic crisis as of late, efforts are still being made to invest into such environmental endeavors.
RUSSIA ON THE HORIZONDuring his presidency Medvedev was the iconic face for the Russian Federation. At just 45-years-old, he brought a new and youthful outlook to this position of President and vowed to be his own man and take his own stances on both foreign and domestic policy.
In the past Mr. Medvedev has said that he wishes to bring reform to the judicial and legislative branches, resolving any lingering corruption and bringing a true separation between the two governing bodies. Russian leaders have implemented needed reform for many years and he has proven that he will continue to do so to enable Russia to continue in its growing prosperity as the Prime Minister.
1990 PHD in private law from Leningrad State University.
1998 Member of Board of Directors of Bratskiy LPK.
1999 Given top Moscow government position by Vladmir Putin.
2002 Two time chair of Gazprom’s Board of Directors.
2005 Deputy Prime Minister of Russia.
2008 Elected President of Russia.
2012 Appointed Prime Minister
DEMITRI MEDVEDEV HISTORY
Demitri Medvedev
48 | G8SUMMIT2012
Russia is the largest country in the
world in overall area, almost twice
the size of the United States. The
geography is quite diverse with
tundra, forests and deserts. There is
rich heritage rooted in its culture, one
which celebrates both its past and future.
Times are much better for this nation who
struggled so much in the prior decade. The
government is considerably more stable and
Vlademir Putin who returns to the office of
President, looks to lead the country down a
proven path of success; where overall growth
is becoming a yearly achievement. Russia has
weathered the bad times and works its way
towards beginning a new prosperous era.
ECONOMY AT A GLANCEUnlike other countries in recent years, Russia
has experienced unprecedented economic
growth based mainly on the rise of oil
costs, increased government stability and
more domestic spending. Russia has seen
significant improvements during this nine year
period. Citizens below the poverty level are
at 14% down from a staggering 40% in 1998,
the unemployment rate is near 6% down from
over 12 % in 1999 and the average household
monthly income is up nearly a remarkable
800% over the past 10 years. The GDP is firmly
situated in the worlds top ten. The Russian
government acknowledges improvement still
needs to be made, but clearly they are headed
in the right direction.
While economic growth is apparent, it has
been centered mostly near Moscow. The other
parts of the country fall significantly behind in
these numbers. However, the middle income
class has risen from about 8 million of the
population in 2000 to over 55 million today.
In December 2011, Russia finally joined World
Trade Organisation, allowing it a greater
access to overseas markets. Some analysts
estimate that WTO membership could bring
the Russian economy a bounce of up to 3 per
cent annually.
Russia is rich in natural resources that are
increasingly in demand. The country ranks first
overall in the amount of natural gas reserves
and ranks second in stored coal reserves and
eighth in oil reserves. Russia is a large importer
of foodstuffs. The government is concerned
with its dependence on importer foods and
hopes to increase size and production of the
domestic agricultural sector.
Russian Federation
G8SUMMIT2012 | 49
GLOBAL EFFORTSRussia is considered a prominent figure in
proving generous assistance to countries
worldwide. The government has extended
debt relief to those countries who are in
developing stages. Substantial debt relief to
the Iraqi nation has recently been provided.
While humanitarian aid was also provided to
the fleeing Serbian people in Kosovo.
Russia’s commitment to the Kyoto Agreement
of 1997 was extremely critical to the
agreement’s survival. Russia signed the Kyoto
Agreement in 2004. The country’s emissions
fall well below the baseline outlined in the
agreement. This means any unused emission
credits can be sold to other countries that have
exceeded their limits. Instead, Russia can keep
the credits and ensure compliance with the
agreement until its expiration in 2012. In large
part, the reason Russia’s emissions are so low
are due to a fall in industrial inactivity during
the 1990’s after the fall of the Soviet-era.
Environmental concerns are at the top of
Russia’s agenda as many areas could be unfit
for living in years to come. Russia has the
opportunity to show the world that a lack of
ecological action is not a valid response and
change is still not too late.
Prime Minister Medvedev will be making his
fourth G8 appearance. This time attending as
a replacement attendee for President Putin,
who is staying back in Russia to organize his
Cabinet.
Official Name: Russian Federation
Land Area: 6,592,800 sq. miles (17,075,400 sq. kilometers)
Population: 143,030,106
Capital: Moscow
Government: Federal semi-presidential republic
President:Vladimir Putin
Prime Minister: President Dmitry Medvedev
Principal Language: Russian
Life Expectancy: 62 Years (males);
74 Years (females)
Currency:
Ruble
GDP Per Capita (US$):
$12,993
1914 Joined World War I.
1922 Creation of USSR.
1939 Joined World War II.
1957 USSR launches Sputnik satellite.
1961 USSR erects wall between East and
West Berlin.
1971 Venera 7 sends probes to Venus.
1991 Soviet Union collapses.
2012 Vlademir Putin is reelected President
Russian Federation - continued
RUSSIA SNAPSHOT
RUSSIA HISTORY
50 | G8SUMMIT2012
Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany since 2005, has played a strong role in politics and has been the leader of several significant groups of interest since the
late 1980’s. A few notable groups include the Christian Democratic Union, of which she is the chairwoman, Grand Coalition, of which she leads with the Christian Social Union and Social Democratic Party of Germany. She is a member of the Council of Women World Leaders and is an elected member of the German Parliament.
Mrs. Merkel is credited with the honor of being the first woman Chancellor of Germany since 1871 and the youngest person to become Chancellor since the Second World War. She joins Margaret Thatcher and Kim Campbell as only the third woman to serve on the G8 and only the second to become chair of the G8 summit. Additionally, Chancellor Merkel was recently awarded the 2008 Charlemagne Prize for her work in uniting Europe as an EU member.
ENVIRONMENTAL DIRECTIONCommitment to addressing climate change has long been a part of Chancellor Merkel’s
agenda. In the 1990’s Ms. Merkel was Germany’s Environmental Minister and strived to bring elected officials from across the globe to start serious talks about the current state of the environment and what could be done to start limiting greenhouse gas emissions. Her efforts in these talks are credited with getting officials to outline and sign the Berlin Mandate, which lead to the implementation of the Kyoto Protocol.
Mrs. Merkel attended the 2007 European Union Summit where a plan was commissioned to reduce EU greenhouse gas emissions by at least 20 percent by 2020 and increase renewable energy’s production to 20 percent by 2020. Many attribute these goals and agreements to the hard work and convincing speeches given by Mrs. Merkel at the Summit.
GERMANY ON THE HORIZONMrs. Merkel has outlined numerous proposals for improving Germanys’ future. In her first address as the Chancellor of Germany, she proposed her goals on improving Germany’s’ economy and reducing unemployment rates. She wants fundamental reforms to pull the economy out of the doldrums, especially reducing staff costs and red tape for employers and raising sales tax.
Angela Merkel is a key influential player in worldwide affairs and looks to strengthen that influence with a strong voice at the G8 Summit.
1978 Graduated from University of Leipzig.
1990 Doctorate from Central Institute for Physical Chemistry of the Academy of Services.
1990 Elected to Bundestag.
1994 Elected Minister of the Environment and reactor Safety.
2000 Elected Chairman of the CDU.
2005 Elected Chancellor of Germany
Angela Merkel
ANGELA MERKEL HISTORY
52 | G8SUMMIT2012
Germany is widely regarded as a very
modern and cosmopolitan country
with a diverse and open minded
society. The culture is centralized
around a broad scope of fine arts.
Theater, film, museums and literature
are just a few of the celebrated industries in
Germany’s history.
The democratic political system of Germany
was founded on the ideas in their constitution,
the Basic Law. Germany was also a founding
member of the European Community in 1957
which eventually became a major pillar in the
creating of the European Union.
With a normally powerful and robust economy,
a high standard of living has been established.
In large part, due to a society that proclaims
itself, the Land of Ideas. The proclamation is
more statement of fact given the creative minds
at work behind widely recognizable products
that shout quality and state-of-the-art.
ECONOMY AT A GLANCEThe economy of Germany is represented
by innovation, quality and cutting-edge
technology. The country claims the fourth
largest economy in GDP. It has the largest and
most advanced national economy in Europe.
The majority of the German economy is
export driven. Germany’s main commodity
exports come from motor vehicles, but
other substantial exports machinery,
chemical products, electrical devices and
telecommunications technology. Germany
currently has 37 companies that are included
in the Fortune 500.
Fitting for a G8 member, Germany can also
pride itself as the leading producer of wind
turbines and solar technology in the world.
Germany has made itself into a worldwide
staple of high quality products. Where design
and innovation has clearly played its part,
quality control divisions are unsung heroes
that factor in the success of many of the larger
companies like Daimler, Bosch and BMW.
GLOBAL EFFORTSGermany has strived to give humanitarian
assistance nationwide. After the devastating
Myanmar cyclone in May, Germany was front
and center in providing aid organizations to
assist the people in Myanmar with shelters,
Federal Rupublic of Germany
G8SUMMIT2012 | 53
drinking water, household goods and mosquito
nets. According to recent statistics from the
Organization for Economic Cooperation,
Germany trails now only the United States in
development assistance in aid.
Through it’s commitment to several
environmental treaties, Germany has long
been known as advocates for environmental
awareness. These treaties concern everything
from low emission standards and recycling to
renewable energy and biodiversity at a global
level. Although the country as a whole believes
actions needs to be taken to improve the
status of the global environment, the country
is somewhat split on the urgency that this
action needs to occur.
Due to country-wide efforts, pollution in the
Baltic Sea have been reduced and Germany’s
governmental heads have announced plans
to end the use of nuclear power to produce
electricity. The production of electricity will be
shifted towards solar technology, but primarily
wind energy. Germany already has the largest
installed capacity for wind energy and this
move will provide not only a stabilizing factor
in providing a necessary consumable, but also
sets an example as a leader in a move towards
alternative methods to harvest energy.
Official Name: Federal Republic of Germany
Land Area: 137,847 sq. miles (357,021 sq. kilometers)
Population: 81,799,600
Capital: Berlin
Government: Federal Parliamentary republic
Head of State: Jens Böhrnsen
Chancellor: Angela Merkel
Principal Language: German
Life Expectancy: 76 Years (male); 82 Years (female)
Currency: Euro
GDP Per Capita (US$):
$43,741
1929 Suffers Great Depression.
1939 Hosts Berlin Olympics.
1945 Divides into West and East Germany.
1955 West Germany joins NATO.
1970 Joins the United Nations.
1989 Fall of the Berlin Wall.
1990 Reunification of Germany.
2002 Euro replaces Duetsch Mark.
Federal Republic of Germany - continued
GERMANY SNAPSHOT
GERMANY HISTORY
54 | G8SUMMIT2012
Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda will be making his first appearance at the G8 Summit this May. In 2010, He was appointed as the Finance Minister, and was designated Prime Minister by the Diet and later by Emperor of Japan,
In 2011, his country endured a devastating earthquake an tsunami, followed by a international nuclear crisis.
ENVIRONMENTAL DIRECTIONHaving recently hosted the G8 Summit in 2009, it put Japan’s environmental policies directly in the spotlight. This event led Japan to announce they will commit to an emissions reduction goal that will be met by 2050.
It was proposed by Japan that all major polluters, including Japan, set a mid-goal date prior to 2050 for cutting greenhouse gas emissions. A 2020 goal date is being planned for and Japan has lobbied for an optimistic 30% cut in emissions by the top polluters. The Kyoto Protocol expires in 2012, so it is imperative that new agreements be made early for a better chance of success.
Japan is one of the world’s leaders in the development of new environment-friendly technologies, and is ranked 20th best in the
world in the 2010 Environmental Performance Index.
In an attempt to meet Japan’s rising energy consumption, Japan is aiming to increase growth in nuclear energy. This took a bit of a hit with the recent natural disaster. Nuclear energy produces no carbon dioxide and is very safe and clean alternative to answer the country’s energy needs.
JAPAN ON THE HORIZONJapan faces several issues such as an increasing population decline and social security funding due to lower birth rates and an aging population. Immediate action resulting in drastic reform is needed that will benefit Japan both in the present and in the future.
In order to revitalize the economy, the government wants to focus on core areas, including “green innovation,” which it estimates will create 1.5 million jobs, and health care, which would generate 2.8 million jobs.
1980 Graduated from School of Political
Science and Economics, Waseda
University
2007 Chairman of the Public Relations
Committee, DPJ
2009 Chairman of the Committee on
Discipline, the House of
Representatives
2010 Chosen to be Finance Minister
2011 Elected Prime Minister of Japan.
Yoshihiko Noda
YOSHIHIKO NODA HISTORY
56 | G8SUMMIT2012
Japan, known as The Land of the Rising
Sun, is an island country made up of
over 3000 small islands. It spreads from
the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the
East China Sea in the south. Japan’s
culture has become very contemporary,
yet the Japanese people still hold strong to
their traditional values and ideals in relation to
education, arts and ceremonies.
The government of Japan is a unitary
constitutional monarchy lead by Emperor
Akihito and a parliament called the National
Diet of Japan consisting of a House of
Representatives and the House of Councilors.
These houses are responsible for electing the
Prime Minister of Japan.
ECONOMY AT A GLANCEJapan’s economy has a very competitive and
skillful spirit. It’s the world’s third largest social
market economy and the second largest GDP
economy. This strength is widely attributed to
unique Japanese characteristics such as work
ethic, knowledge of cutting edge technology
and close government-industry cooperation.
The major industries in Japan’s economy
includes banking, insurance, real
estate, retailing, transportation and
telecommunications. They are also heavily
focused on industrial endeavors such as
vehicle and electronic manufacturing.
Vehicles, electronics, and chemicals are
Japans main exports. Due to the lack of natural
resources they also rely on exports to provide
much of its raw materials such as fossil fuels,
food including meat and various materials for
their many industries. Japan’s main import
and export partners are the United States, the
European Union and China.
One issue that the Japanese economy faces
is a dwindling population. The birthrate has
dropped to an alarming rate of 1.2%. As this
trend continues the workforce will shrink and
unclear results can lead to a turbulent future.
The government will either have to coax the
population to have more children or relax
immigration policies to maintain a healthy
population growth rate.
GLOBAL EFFORTSSince the early 1970’s, Japan has been leading
the way in environmental preservation through
many environmental laws introduced by the
Japan
G8SUMMIT2012 | 57
government and the creation of the Ministry
of the Environment in 1971. In doing so, their
recent history and current policies boast
a delicate but successful balance between
development and environmental protection.
Current policy makes Japan world leaders in
creating environmentally friendly technology.
Japan’s government takes the climate crisis
and global warming very seriously and is
feverishly seeking out innovative efforts to
comply with the promises made in the Kyoto
Protocol. They’ve made strides in vehicle
emissions issues with hybrid, biofuel and
building material technologies and they are
aiming to reduce pollutants from factories and
other places of business.
Japan has long been a supporter for
humanitarian aid across the globe contributing
their share of financial donations. From wars
and other crisis plaguing countless countries to
natural disasters like tsunamis and earthquakes
Japan often steps in to provide emergency
food, shelter materials, goods, and monetary
donations where they are needed.
In 2006 they were first in line to contribute
funds to help launch the Central Emergency
Response Fund and in 2008 pledged one
million dollars to continue the program year
after year.
Official Name: Japan
Land Area: 145,925 sq. miles (377,944 sq. kilometers)
Population: 127,799,000
Capital: Tokyo
Government: Parliamentary democracy and Constitutional monarchy
Head of State: Emperor Akihito
Prime Minister: Naoto Kan
Principal Language: Japanese
Life Expectancy: 78 Years (male); 85 Years (female)
Currency: Yen
GDP Per Capita (US$):
$45,920
1914 Joins Britain in World War I.
1937 Goes to war with China.
1947 New constitution goes into force.
1951 Signs peace treaty with U.S. and
othernations.
1972 Diplomatic relations resumed with
China.
1997 Economy enters recession.
2004 Deploys combat soldiers to Iraq.
2011 Earthquake hits Northern Japan.
Japan - continued
JAPAN SNAPSHOT
JAPAN HISTORY
58 | G8SUMMIT2012
Following the resignation of Silvio Berlusconi. Monti was sworn in as Prime Minister on November 16, 2011, just a week after having been appointed a Senator for Life. This will be his first G8 Summit
He was seen as a favorite to replace Silvio Berlusconi to lead a new unity government in Italy in order to implement reforms and austerity measures. Following Berlusconi’s resignation, Napolitano invited Monti to form a new government. Monti accepted the offer, and held talks with the leaders of the main Italian political parties, declaring that he wanted to form a government that would remain in office until the next scheduled general elections in 2013.
ENVIRONMENTAL DIRECTIONThe price of oil and natural gas are on the rise and energy use security is becoming a real question. Italians currently pay the highest electricity costs in Europe. In an attempt to appease all sides, which include those who want clean energy and those who simply want affordable energy, a new coal plant is being constructed in the town of Civitavecchia. The plant will be CCS ready for use when Carbon
Capture and Storage methods become available to thwart greenhouse gas emissions.
In the meantime, the plant is a model of recycling, making use of all of its byproducts. Ashes and gypsum will be sold to cement makers, there is even use for the heated water created from cooling stations, which will be used to warm one of Italy’s largest fish farms. Still, environmentalists around the world fear that a return to coal energy may put the already dismal outlook on climate change into a worse situation. Clean nuclear energy is being closely looked at for future energy needs.
ITALY ON THE HORIZONOn December 4, 2011, Monti’s government introduced emergency austerity measures intended to stem the worsening economic conditions in Italy and restore market confidence, especially after rising Italian government bond yields began to threaten Italy’s financial stability. The austerity package called for increased taxes, pension reform and measures to fight tax evasion. Monti also announced that he would be giving up his own salary as part of the reforms.
Monti’s government formally adopted a package of reforms targeting Italy’s labor market. The reforms are intended to open certain professions to more competition by reforming their licensing systems and abolishing minimum tariffs for their services.
1943 Born in Varese, Italy
1995 Served as European Commissioner
2011 Minister of Economy and Finance
2011 Appointed Senator for Life
2011 Sworn in as Prime Minister of Italy.
Mario Monti
MARIO MONTI HISTORY
60 | G8SUMMIT2012
Italy was at the forefront in founding
the European Union in 1957, then
known as the European Community,
and is a charter member and energetic
supporter of the North Atlantic Treaty
Organization, NATO.
Though relatively small in size, Italy is widely
known for four big things; iconic fashion,
passionate opera, decadent cuisine and
timeless architectural landscape. From
explorers like Christopher Columbus and Marco
Polo to progressive artists like Leonardo da
Vinci and Masaccio Italy has produced some
of the most recognizable figures in history.
Italy’s government is made up of a bicameral
parliament, consisting of a Chamber of
Deputies and a Senate, a separate judiciary,
and an executive branch made up of a
Council of Ministers (cabinet), headed by the
prime minister.
ECONOMY AT A GLANCEItaly’s economic stability rests in the hands of
private family run firms that are in the business
of processing and manufacturing goods. Since
World War II it has morphed from an almost
exclusively agricultural based economy to
its rank as the world’s fifth largest industrial
economy.
The most significant exports include motor
transportation like luxury vehicles, scooters
and motorcycles, and more famously, food
and fashion. Tourism also accounts for Italy’s
growing economy. With over 37 million
tourists flocking to Italy each year the country
ranks again as the fifth largest destination for
travel in the world.
Because Italy is faced with having scarce
natural resources and very little land capable
of farming, their main imports are agriculture
and energy sources. However, the natural
gas reserves coming from the Po Valley and
offshore Adriatic have flourished in recent
years making it Italy’s most significant mineral
resource.
Trade with the European Union makes up
about 59% of Italy’s total trade with their main
trading partners being Germany, France and
the Netherlands. Outside of the European
Union, Italy’s major exporting partners are the
United States and Great Britain.
Republic of Italy
G8SUMMIT2012 | 61
Republic of Italy - continued
GLOBAL EFFORTS
Italy is still a generous nation when providing
poorer countries with aid. Sierra Leone, ranked
the least developed country after a long civil
war, received a huge financial boost from Italy.
This aid will help stabilize a growing agricultural
sector in the area and increase food security.
A new government has recently been
established headed by the familiar face
of Mario Monti. Mario Manti unveiled a
technocratic cabinet composed entirely of
unelected professionals. The hope is that
under new leadership, Italy can come together
and resolve the internal issues.
Official Name: Republic of Italy
Land Area: 116,346 sq. miles (301,338 sq. kilometers)
Population: 60,681,514
Capital: Rome
Government: Parliamentary republic
Prime Minister: Silvio Berlusconi
Principal Language: Italian
Life Expectancy:
77 Years (male); 83 Years (female)
Currency: Euro
GDP Per Capita (US$): $36,267
1915 Joins allies in World War I.
1941 Declares war on USSR.
1948 New constitution formed.
1955 Joins the United Nations.
1994 Freedom Alliance wins election.
1997 Umbria earthquake damages Basilica
of St. Frances.
2005 Parliament ratifies EU constitution.
2009 Earthquakes in Abruzzo region lead
to relocation of G8 Summit.
ITALY SNAPSHOT
ITALY HISTORY
62 | G8SUMMIT2012
The Right Honourable, Canadian Prime Minister, Stephen Joseph Harper is committed to keeping Canada a strong and independent nation. Mr. Harper is a charismatic visionary who cofounded the Conservative Party of
Canada, which was a merger of former parties the Canadian Alliance and the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada in 2003.
Mr. Harper has a long and distinguished resume transcribing a successful political career most notably winning an election for Member of Parliament for Calgary West over his former employer. He served as MP until 1997 when he was appointed as a vice-president of the National Citizens Coalition, a conservative think-tank and advocacy group, and soon was nominated their President.
ENVIRONMENTAL DIRECTIONPrime Minister Harper has pledged to a responsible approach to a safe and healthy environment for the Earth. He believes global climate change is a clear danger to all inhabitants and a strict reduction in gashouse emissions must be reached by all gross polluting countries.
Mr. Harper tirelessly works towards uniting leaders around the world to agree to a projected reduction of global emissions by half by the year 2050. Mr. Harper has already made aggressive strategies to reduce overall greenhouse emissions by 60-70% by 2050 and 20% by 2020.
Details were published by Canada in a regulatory framework titled “Turning the Corner.” These details include federally regulating of emissions reduction, targeting dates to start oil sands operation to perform emissions storage and retrieval, as well as banning the construction of coal plants that contribute to excessive pollution. Prime Minister Harper is preparing Canada to lead the way for all nations to act responsibly for a cleaner, cooler planet.
CANADA ON THE HORIZONPrime Minister Harper has Canada’s most pressing issues at the forefront of his agenda. The areas of federal accountability, tax reform, crime, child care and health care are said to be his top priorities during his time as Prime Minister. There has also been more attention given to military forces to improve national and worldwide security.
1978 Works in Alberta oil fields.
1991 Earns MA in economics from University of Calgary.
1993 Won seat for Canadian House of Commons.
1997 Lead the National Citizens Coalition.
2002 Wins leadership of Canadian Alliance Party.
2004 Becomes leader of Conservative Party of Canada.
2006 Elected Prime Minister of Canada.
Stephen J. Harper
STEPHEN J. HARPER HISTORY
64 | G8SUMMIT2012
Canada occupies most of the upper
portion of North America, extending
from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean
and northward into the Arctic Ocean.
It is the world’s second largest country
by total area, and shares land borders
with the United States.
The country is filled will natural wonders and
beauty. Vast forests offer solace to visitors and
a backbone to the economy with the logging
industry. Mammoth rivers and lakes are born
from snow capped mountains providing
watering holes to unique wildlife. Canada’s
natural resources are its most invaluable
commodity.
The Canadian government is made up of a
sovereign head of state, Queen Elizabeth II, head
of government, Prime Minister Stephen Harper
and the legislative power of parliament. Canada
has maintained its own independent foreign
policies without external influence, despite its
heavy trade relationship with the United States.
ECONOMY AT A GLANCECanada is a mixed market, or social market
economy, commonly found in Western and
Northern Europe during the Cold War. This
type of economy looks for a middle ground
between socialism and capitalism.
Over the years, Canada has maintained a
diversified economy that is heavily reliant
upon its abundant natural resources. Roughly
75% of all imports and exports occur with its
southern neighbor the United States. Canada
has avoided economic recession for several
years while keeping unemployment rates to its
lowest percentages in a number of decades.
The nation’s economic identity is slowly moving
away from agriculture, mining and factories to
a more knowledge and service-based focus.
Retail leads the way in Canada’s economic
identity employing more than one tenth of the
Canadian population and tourism will receive a
significant boost when Canada hosts the 2010
Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver.
The major sector of the country’s exported
product has always been oil and logging. Canada
is one of the few developed nations that is a net
exporter of energy. Ranging offshore deposits of
natural gas and crude oil can be found centered
in the province of Alberta. Canada touts the
world’s second largest reserves of crude oil
behind Saudi Arabia.
Canada
G8SUMMIT2012 | 65
Canada - continued
GLOBAL EFFORTS
Dedicated to aiding developing countries,
Canada was recently joined by other nations
in funding the creation of various vaccines for
third world countries and a call to all other
able countries to do the same has been made.
Canada has also been providing aid in the form
of debt relief to these poorer countries. The
main concern is that these countries should
not have to focus on the debts of the past, but
rather refocus their goals on their future.
The Minister of Natural Resources in Canada
has recently announced a number of initiatives
that are directed to improving clean energy
technology. Funding from the 2008 budget will
be given to the Institute of Sustainable Energy,
Environment and Economy at the University
of Calgary to drive these efforts. Greenhouse
gases will be reduced through advances in
technology for carbon capture and storage.
This process stores carbon dioxide instead of
releasing it into the atmosphere.
Canada is committed to reducing global
emissions by 20% by the year 2020. This goal
represents a considerable challenge, however
the country believes in its leader’s guidance
and citizen’s willingness to face the obstacles
with collective fervor.
Official Name: Canada
Land Area: 3,854,085 sq miles (9,984,670 sq.kilometers)
Population: 34,796,000
Capital: Ottawa
Government: Parliamentary democracy and Constitutional monarchy
Head of State: Queen Elizabeth II
Prime Minister: Stephen Harper
Principal Language: English, French
Life Expectancy: 76 Years (male); 83 Years (female)
Currency: Canadian Dollar
GDP Per Capita (US$): $40,541
1939 World War II forces active abroad.
1949 Founder of NATO.
1950 Korean War forces help UN efforts.
1965 Present Canadian Flag adopted.
1982 Gains complete freedom from UK.
1991 Forces participate on Gulf War.
2003 An outbreak of SARS hits Toronto.
CANADA SNAPSHOT
CANADA HISTORY
66 | G8SUMMIT2012
François Hollande
François Hollande was elected President of France on 6 May 2012. He will take office on May 15. He defeated incumbent President Nicholas Sarkozy. He has served in numerous positions in public service for France. These
offices include: National Assembly Member of the National Assembly of France for Corrèze Regional Council, Mayor of Tull and the First secretary of the Socialist Party.
ENVIRONMENTAL DIRECTIONMr. Hollande endorses reducing the share of electricity generated by nuclear power in France from 75 to 50% in favor of renewable energy sources.
FRANCE ON THE HORIZONAs the newly elected President of France, he has many policies that he would like to install in the French government :
Foreign policy: Supports the withdrawal of French troops present in Afghanistan by the end of 2012.
Financial system: Back the creation of a European rating agency and the separation of lending and investment in banks.
Education: Supports the recruitment of 60,000 civil servants (new teachers), the creation of a study allowance and means-tested training, setting up a mutually beneficial contract that would allow a generation of experienced employees and craftsmen to be the guardians and teachers of younger newly-hired employees, thereby creating a total of 150,000 subsidized jobs.
Recruitment of 5,000 judges, police officers and gendarmes.
Construction of 500,000 state ruled homes per year, including 150,000 social, funded by a doubling of the ceiling of the A passbook, the region making available its local government land within five years.
The provision of development funds for deprived suburbs.
Return to a deficit of 0% of GDP in 2017.
1997 First Secretary of the Socialist Party
2001 Mayor of Tulle
2008 President of the Corrèze General Council
2012 Elected President of France
FRANCOIS HOLLANDE HISTORY
68 | G8SUMMIT2012
French Republic
France is a country rich in cultural
heritage. Paris’s monument laden
grounds alone make France the most
popular choice of destination for
tourists. Landmarks such as the Eiffel
Tower, The Louvre Museum, and the
Alps to the shores of the Mediterranean draw
simple conclusion as to why the number
of yearly visitors outnumber the countries
population itself.
France lends itself to a unitary semi-presidential
republic. This means there are two key figures
who lead the country; the elected President,
Nicolas Sarkozy and his appointment of Prime
Minister, Francois Fillon.
ECONOMY AT A GLANCENow that the initial impact that the global
financial crisis has settled, a time for renewed
commitment to energizing the economy is
here. Ranked as high as 5th largest in the world
by GDP, the French economy has crawled to a
slower growth in recent years. Clear indicators
of problems are apparent where inflation rates
have soared to new heights in nearly 17 years.
High unemployment rates and rising prices for
goods and fuel are presenting the government
with difficult challenges.
Unemployment has been an issue since
the 1970’s and has been addressed by the
government in the past. The thirty-five hour
work week was introduced to promote a need
for employers to hire more workers to fill these
available hours. However, this has not led to
the desired increase in workers hired as was
originally hoped. Other attempts to lower
unemployment rates have been tax relief to
younger workers entering the workforce,
financial incentives to both workers and
employers and a relaxation to overtime
penalties.
GLOBAL EFFORTSFrance has the second largest network of
diplomatic missions in the world, second only
to the USA.
A few of the major topics already of interest
to the French government are climate change,
energy security and the Common Agricultural
Policy (CAP).
Proposals by the government for greater
security for the supply of energy include plans
G8SUMMIT2012 | 69
to guarantee needed energy savings, secure
contingency plans for lapses in supply, discuss
investments needed to improve infrastructures
and rekindle relations with energy supplying
nations.
In regard to CAP, the first step noted by the
French Prime Minister, Francois Fillon, will be
to make a health check on CAP’s current state.
From there, discussions can be had to decide
what issues can be addressed that will appeal
to all involved parties.
France was presented with an opportunity to
shine as a leader and founding member of the
European Union. France’s recent opportunities
have been met with high ambitions and clear
goals set for the greater prosperity not only for
France, but Europe as a whole.
France is the second largest donor of
development aid in the world, behind the US,
and ahead of Germany, Japan and the UK.
This represents 0.5 % of its GDP, in this regard
rating as more generous than most other
developed countries. The main goals of this
help are “developing infrastructure, access to
health care and education, the implementation
of appropriate economic policies and the
consolidation of the rule of law and democracy.
OfficialName: French Republic
Land Area: 260,558 sq. miles (674,843 sq. kilometers)
Population: 65,350,000
Capital: Paris
Government: Unitary semi-presidential constitutional republic
President: President Nicolas Sarkozy
President-Elect: François Hollande
Prime Minister: François Fillon
Principal Language: French
Life Expectancy: 77 Years (male); 84 Years (female)
Currency: Euro
GDP Per Capita (US$): $44,008
1914 Enters World War I.
1936 Enters World War II.
1944 Women gain right to vote.
1954 Enters Algerian War.
1974 Oil Crisis causes recession.
1981 Abolition of the death penalty.
1997 Signing of the Amsterdam Treaty.
2001 Presidential election time changed in the constitution.
FRANCE HISTORY
FRANCE SNAPSHOT
70 | G8SUMMIT2012
As President of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso has worked hard to revitalize the public’s confidence in the European Commission. Through his vigorous strategies on climate change,
European and African economy growth and renewable energy sources, he has helped to sustain a public support around the Globe. Nearly twenty years into his political career he was elected president of the European Commission and re-elected twice.
ENVIRONMENTAL DIRECTIONPresident Barroso has stated that the economic and financial crisis and the scientific evidence of climate change have shown us that we need to invest more in sustainability. But this is not just about doing the right thing for the future of the planet – Europe stands to benefit enormously from investing in new low carbon technologies for future jobs and growth. Fighting climate change and the move towards a low carbon economy provide huge opportunities for business and people and will enhance our energy security.
First-mover advantages can be gained by exploiting the potential of EU environmentally-friendly industries, services and technology
through fostering their uptake by enterprises, especially SMEs, and designing the appropriate regulatory environment. An industrial base which is modernised to use and produce environmental-friendly technologies and which exploits the potential for energy efficiency is the key to sustainable growth in Europe.
The next Commission needs to maintain the momentum towards a low emission economy, and in particular towards decarbonising our electricity supply and the transport sector – all transport, including maritime transport and aviation, as well as the development of clean and electric cars.
EUROPEAN UNION ON THE HORIZON
President José Manuel Barroso has set his recent attention regarding the continued growth of Europe to issues such as debating nuclear energy, addressing rising agricultural prices and introducing the Treaty of Lisbon.
The shared concern for lowering greenhouse gas emissions has brought new discussion on the pros and cons of looking to nuclear energy as an alternative energy source for European countries. Concentrating on both short and long-term solutions to stabilize food security.
1958 Born in Lisbon, Portugal
1999 Name President of the Social
Democratic Party and reelected 3
times
2002 Appointed Prime Minister of Portugal
2004 Elected by the European Parliament to the post of President of the European Commission
José Manuel Barroso
JOSE BARROSO HISTORY
G8SUMMIT2012 | 71
The European Union (EU) is an
economic and political union or
confederation of 27 member states
which are located primarily in Europe.
Important institutions of the EU include
the European Commission, the Council
of the European Union, the European Council,
the Court of Justice of the European Union,
and the European Central Bank. The European
Parliament is elected every five years by EU
citizens.
ECONOMY AT A GLANCE
The EU’s share of gross world product (GWP)
is stable at around one fifth.
The twelve new member states of the
European Union have enjoyed a higher
average percentage growth rate than their
elder members of the EU. Notably the
Baltic States have achieved massive GDP
growth, with Latvia topping 11%, close to
China, the world leader at 9% on average for
the past 25 years. Reasons for this massive
growth include government commitments
to stable monetary policy, export-oriented
trade policies, low flat-tax rates and the
utilisation of relatively cheap labor. For the
last year, Sweden had the biggest GDP
growth from all the states in EU (5,7%). The
current map of EU growth is one of huge
regional variation, with the larger economies
suffering from stagnant growth and the
new nations enjoying sustained, robust
economic growth. Although EU27 GDP is on
the increase, the percentage of gross world
product is decreasing due to the emergence
of economic powers such as China, India and
Brazil. In the medium to long term, the EU will
be looking forward to increase GDP growth in
Italy and the UK in order to stabilise growth
in European Union states. This is to ensure
sustained economic prosperity.
GLOBAL EFFORTS
In 2007, member states agreed that the EU
is to use 20% renewable energy in the future
and that it has to reduce carbon dioxide
emissions in 2020 by at least 20% compared
to 1990 levels. This includes measures that in
2020, 10% of the overall fuel quantity used by
cars and trucks in EU 27 should be running
on renewable energy such as biofuels. This is
considered to be one of the most ambitious
moves of an important industrialised region
to fight global warming.
European Union
EAGLEWOOD UTAHONLY 10 MINUTES FROM DOWNTOWN SALT LAKE CITY
74 | G8SUMMIT2012
by The Utah Sports Commission
It may be hard to believe for those who host-
ed, visited or participated in the XIX Olympic
Winter Games in the Salt Lake City region,
but a decade has passed. And apart from the
immediate impact the Winter Games had on
Salt Lake City and the state, the legacy of that
Olympiad can be seen and felt today across
Utah.
Since the Winter Games, Utah has adopted
“The State of Sport” as its calling card — the
perfect description of where Utah stands
today.
“It seems just yesterday, but we’re celebrating
the tenth anniversary of the Winter Olympics,”
said Jeff Robbins, president and CEO of the
Utah Sports Commission (utahsportscommis-
sion.com). “The legacy that the Winter Games
have created is, in a word, amazing. And best
of all, in the intervening ten years Utah has
been able to take that incredibly successful
world-class event and turn it into a platform
for branding our state as a tremendous place
to hold other events of all sizes, types and
seasons.
“When you look at what we have hosted in
the past decade, you get a real sense of that
reality and the Winter Games’ true impact,”
Robbins added.
There is little doubt about Robbins’ perception
of what the Winter Games have meant to Utah.
Since 2002, when Utah hosted both the XIX
Olympics Winter Games and the VIII Paralym-
pic Winter Games, Salt Lake County between
the Wasatch and Oquirrh mountains has
continued to grow as a site for a wide range of
sporting events. From July 2010 to June 2011
alone, for example, the Utah Sports Commis-
sion assisted acquiring more than 30 events in
10 years later
Utah’s OlympicLegacy
G8SUMMIT2012 | 75
Salt Lake and Tooele counties. In 2011, the area
hosted baseball’s Triple-A All-Star Game, the
Nationwide Tour’s Utah Championship, Sum-
mer Dew Tour, AMA Monster Energy Super-
cross, FIM World Superbike, Tour of Utah, the
U.S. Adult and Junior Figure Skating Champi-
onships and the USA Team Handball Champi-
onships.
“That is just a sample of the events that Utah
has hosted recently,” Robbins said. “The Win-
ter Games helped Utah create its worldclass
stamp of approval, you might say.”
Again, Robbins is not overstating the case.
Since 2002, there have been more than 70
World Cups or Championships hosted (or to
be hosted) in Utah, as well as 90 Olympic
(USOC/USA-sanctioned) events that have tak-
en place in the state. Looking ahead, there are
11 Olympic- related events on the calendar for
2012-2014, and the original 14 Winter Olympic
Games’ venues continue to be used for events,
elite training and recreational purposes on an
ongoing basis.
Other future competitions on the docket
in Utah include the 2012 USA Hockey High
School National Championships, USA Volley-
ball’s 2012 U.S. Open Championships, the 2012
USA Fencing Junior Olympic Championship,
the 2014 USA Fencing Summer Nationals,
and the 2013 Golden Gloves Boxing National
Championships.
Finally, Utah today serves as home to three
National Governing Bodies: the United States
Ski & Snowboarding Association (U.S.S.A.);
United States Speedskating (U.S.S.); and USA
Team Handball (USATH).
Of course, apart from leaving a tremendous
sports legacy, the 2002 Winter Games had
a very positive effect on the State of Utah
in general. A record 250,000 visitors from
around the world were able to experience
Utah while attending the Games (both Olym-
pic and Paralympic Games), and another 2.1
billion were exposed to the state through the
specific global media coverage of the XIX
Olympic Winter Games. Utah experienced
significant economic growth as a result of the
Games, including an $76 million endowment
to help fund operations for the Olympic Park
and Olympic Oval. The Utah Athletic Founda-
tion (www.utaholympiclegacy.com), Robbins
noted, today manages the endowment and
utilizes those two major venues for hosting
sporting and training events.
76 | G8SUMMIT2012
Interestingly, the Utah Sports Commission was
created in 1999 to assist with the legacy of
the 2002 Olympic Winter Games, and so far,
so good based on Utah’s growth as a state
where sport continues to thrive. The Commis-
sion partners with venues and numerous other
organizations throughout the state to attract
Olympic related and other major sporting
events.
“The 2002 Winter Games still holds the dis-
tinction of being the last Olympiad to take
place in the United States,” Robbins noted,
adding that the Salt Lake Games were the
largest Winter Olympiad ever held up to that
date, and also set records in broadcasting and
marketing revenues.
Robbins explained that while Utah’s winter
event schedule has grown since 2002, there
are several legacy-related, non-winter events
that have blossomed as well.
“You can focus on downhill skiing but there
are only so many cups and championships, so
it’s limited,” he said. “Instead, we have been
focused on the idea of creating a broader
legacy, bringing all types of sports to Utah. On
that front, we have succeeded in broadening
our legacy.”
He explained that for a post-Olympic Games
scenario, certainly in the U.S., what the state
has been able to do is broaden the appeal of
Utah using a public-private partnership.
“We are now commemorating the tenth anni-
versary, but we also have an eye on the future.
The 2002 Winter Games served as an incred-
ible platform to position Utah and establish
the state as a real player in the global sports
community,” Robbins added. “The right word
for the Winter Games is catalyst.”
As part of its Olympic legacy, today Utah is
viewed not only as a location to host major
sporting events, but also as an entity that
has created a major sports infrastructure, a
tremendous volunteer database, and a com-
munications culture - all critical attributes that
grew out of the 2002 Winter Games experi-
ence. Without hosting the Winter Games, there
may have been an organic growth within Utah,
Robbins noted, but the Winter Games pro-
vided the perfect platform to accelerate that
pace.
“We believe no other state has as much of
a sports brand as Utah,” Robbins said, not-
ing that since 2002, more than 400 sporting
events have taken place across Utah. “The
Winter Games were a great opportunity and
we were honored to host the world. In the past
decade, we’ve been the ‘keeper of the flame’
by taking that experience and building on that
success. Looking back, Utah was the right
place for the Games, and that legacy is stron-
ger than ever.”
Today, the downtown is more developed, there
is now light rail to the airport, a major train
service from Ogden to Provo is being put in
place, and many other infrastructure improve-
ments have been made since the Games.
“From a hosting point of view, Utah is prob-
ably in a better position to host a Games now
than it was in 2002,” Robbins said.
by Carl R. Gustaveson, Attorney at Law, Utah
As the population of the industrialized nations contin-ues to age, and various nations around the globe are looking at the sustainability of their social safety nets, more and more aging individuals are going to need to plan for their golden years. Individuals, to feel secure and comfortable in their retirement years will need to plan their finances, including their estate plans, their medical care, and even make arrangements for their final funeral expenses.
FINANCIAL PLANNINGMany have looked to the promises of government to take care of them in their old age. Americans have looked to the programs of Social Security and Medi-care as their retirement plan. Today, these programs look more and more tenuous as the average age of Americans increases. This puts more strain on the system.
Individuals should look to plan for their own retire-ments, and the earlier a person begins, the better. With the help of a good Financial Planner, or based on one’s own knowledge, one can live by the principal of spending less than what you earn and put away for one’s retirement. This is a simple principal, but one few live by consistently.
ESTATE PLANNINGIn considering an estate plan, one must consider their goals. One must consider if tax planning is needed, if one is planning for the care of minor children or other individuals, if one is trying to avoid the expenses and complexities of probate, plan for a potential incapacity, or any other legitimate considerations in planning.
In considering an estate plan, a question that is inevita-bly asked is “What’s better, a will or a trust?” Either one is better than nothing. For the vast majority of clients that I have had, I have recommended to have both. Even though I prefer, as an estate planner, to use a trust to pass property, a will is still needed in Utah for a deceased parent to indicate to a Court their prefer-ences for a guardian for their children. Also, a will allows property that was not placed in trust, to be dis-tributed by the terms of the trust after being probated.
MEDICAL CARE PLANNINGMany states, including Utah, have developed a statu-tory advanced directive for health care. These forms generally include directions to a physician as to your healthcare wishes when you are not able to commu-nicate your wishes yourself, similar to a “Living Will.” The advanced directive also allows an individual to designate someone to communicate with healthcare providers and make decisions for them.
PLANNING FOR THE INEVITABLEWhile Americans tend to avoid the reality of death and discuss it as little as possible, the best deaths are when families can come together and remember their loved ones, telling stories and crying together without the stresses of planning and paying for a funeral when they are emotionally vulnerable and when the expense is not planned.
It’s hard to prepare for the end of life and to look at all the issues involved. It’s hard to prepare for your own end of life and for that of a loved one. However, there are costs associated with every decision at life’s end. But, the emotional and financial hardship can be eased considerably through proper planning.
“Today, there are preneed financial products that can be purchased as a type of insurance plan with monthly payments that can cover funeral expenses. These contracts are regulated by the state and kept at the funeral home for the consumer’s protection, so that an individual’s wishes are known and so that funds can be immediately available for a funeral’s expenses.” Valerie Gustaveson, PreNeed Counselor.
CONCLUSIONAs the demographics of the industrialized world are shifting to an older population and there are fewer workers supporting a greater number or retirees, inevitably, government benefits to the elderly will be reduced. It is up to the individual, for their sake, and for the sake of their families to plan for the later years and for end of life.
Through planning, a person can reduce the stress and burden often associated with caring for an aging par-ent or other relative or friend. One can bring peace into their lives and the lives of their loved ones by proper planning.
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