G8 summit could be the last as rising nations want their voices heard

World leaders wrapped up the G8 summit in L’Aquila last night, saying that it could be the last meeting of its kind.

President Obama joined Silvio Berlusconi, the Italian Prime Minister who hosted the meeting, in suggesting that the G8 was too small to cope with the problems facing the world and that other emerging countries needed to be included.

“To think we can somehow deal with some of these global challenges in the absence of major powers like China, India and Brazil seems to be wrong-headed,” Mr Obama told reporters shortly before leaving for Ghana on his first trip to sub-Saharan Africa as US President.

The demise of the G8 — made up of rich northern hemisphere countries — illustrates its limitations in dealing with global issues such as climate change and the economic crisis. In any case the G8 countries were joined by the leaders of China, India, Brazil, Mexico, South Africa and Egypt, spontaneously forming the G14.

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