Photographs

Introduction

1. We, the Heads of State and/or Government of Brazil, China, India, Mexico and South Africa thank Prime Minister Tony Blair for the invitation to participate at the G8 Gleneagles Summit.

2. At the historical juncture of the UN 60th anniversary and other important upcoming events this year, including the process of UN reforms aimed at providing a greater voice to developing countries in UN decision-making, the Gleneagles Summit is an opportunity to give stronger impetus to these processes and to send a positive message on international cooperation. This should be achieved through the promotion of multilateralism, the enhancement of North-South cooperation, as well as through a renewed commitment to sustainable development and the harnessing of the benefits of globalization for all.

3. We reaffirm the role of South-South cooperation in the context of multilateralism, and the need to strengthen it. We are fully committed to close coordination and cooperation to meet the challenges arising from globalization, and to promote the common interest of developing countries by striving to more effectively bring together our priorities and international engagement strategies. We recall the outcome of the Second South Summit held in Doha in June 2005, which recognised the importance of initiatives such as the "Action against Hunger and Poverty", and the proposal for the Southern Development Fund.

Global Economic Issues

4. More stability and certainty in the world economy are paramount, together with an international context that provides developing countries with better and more equitable opportunities. Developing countries usually bear the brunt of crises and macroeconomic imbalances in the major economies that are in a position to spur conditions for global economic growth and development.

5. The persistence of hunger and poverty, even when the means to eliminate them are available, is a major obstacle to sustainable development.

6. The mobilization of international support for raising additional financial resources for development and the fight against hunger and poverty, through the effective implementation of the agreements and commitments reached by the international community in the "Consensus of Monterrey" agreed at the Conference on Financing for Development of the United Nations, is a necessary condition to reach the targets and objectives established in the "Millennium Declaration". Thus, we should preserve the coherence, the association, the will, and the sense of shared responsibility that are the common elements and principles that have to be adopted by every member of the international community if we are to see successful results.

7. The Millennium Development Goals cannot be timely and fully implemented with the current levels of ODA, which remain focused on short-term projects and vary according to the budgetary and policy priorities of donor countries. Therefore, donor countries should fulfil their commitments and reach the target of at least 0.7% of their GDP's allocated to ODA. This would greatly assist the funding of national and regional initiatives to combat poverty and hunger.

8. We welcome the decision adopted by the G-8 Finance Ministers to promote further debt relief for a number of the Least Developed Countries.

9. The removal of trade barriers to products and services of interest to developing countries is essential for development, the fight against poverty and the protection of the environment. The Doha Development Agenda explicitly places the development dimension at the heart of current trade negotiations. However, more progress is needed to implement this collective commitment. There is a need to redress the development deficit which became more acute as a result of the Uruguay Round agreements.

10. The international community needs to send a clear and positive signal to the Doha round of trade negotiations that the success of the 6th Ministerial Meeting of the WTO, to be held in Hong Kong, China, in December 2005, is essential. In this connection, a fundamental requirement is to achieve substantive progress, by the end of July 2005, regarding agricultural negotiations, access to non-agricultural markets, services, trade facilitation and rules. Trade-distorting domestic support for agriculture in developed countries must be substantially reduced and all forms of export subsidies must be eliminated by a date to be agreed.

11. All members of the international community should work together for the reform of the current international economic system to make it stronger and supportive of development, including through reforming the Bretton Woods Institutions and assuring greater say to developing countries.

Climate change

12. Climate change has, and for the foreseeable future will continue to have, a profound impact on the development prospects of our societies. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and its Kyoto Protocol establish a regime that adequately addresses the economic, social and environmental aspects of sustainable development.

13. The international regime represented by the UNFCCC and its Kyoto Protocol rests on the differentiation of obligations among Parties, according to the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities of States. Developed countries should therefore take the lead in international action to combat climate change by fully implementing their obligations of reducing emissions and of providing additional financing and the transfer of cleaner, low-emission and cost-effective technologies to developing countries.

14. In line with the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities, the UNFCCC and the Kyoto Protocol do not provide for any quantitative targets for emission reductions for developing countries but still require these countries to implement appropriate policies and measures to address climate change, taking into account their specific circumstances and with the support of developed countries.

15. The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) incorporated in the Kyoto Protocol provides an important and innovative framework for the participation of developing countries in international efforts to address climate change. In addition, our countries have already carried out mitigation and adaptation efforts that precede and complement those related to the CDM.

16. The Gleneagles Summit should recognise that the Convention establishes economic and social development and poverty eradication as the first and overriding priorities of developing countries. As such, there is an urgent need for the development and financing of policies, measures and mechanisms to adapt to the inevitable adverse effects of climate change that are being borne mainly by the poor.

17. Changes in the unsustainable production and consumption patterns in the industrialized countries must be implemented. Energy efficiency and renewable energy sources, such as solar, wind and hydro-electrical power, and bio-fuels such as ethanol and biodiesel, offer opportunities that deserve careful consideration.

18. We urge the G-8 leaders and the international community to devise innovative mechanisms for the transfer of technology and to provide new and additional financial resources to developing countries under the UNFCCC and its Kyoto Protocol. For this purpose, we propose a new paradigm for international cooperation, focused on the achievement of concrete and properly assessed results, taking fully into account the perspective and needs of developing countries. Such a paradigm must ensure that technologies with a positive impact on climate change are both accessible and affordable to developing countries and will require a concerted effort to address questions related to intellectual property rights. Additional financial resources, apart from those already available through ODA, should be directed to developing countries to enable them to access critical technologies. Collaborative research for new technologies, involving both developed and developing countries, also needs to be encouraged.