NGOs urge action, fairness for G20 summit

hu, 02 Apr 2009 20:25:38 GMT | PressTV

Leaders of the Group of Twenty

Commenting on the G20 summit, NGOs say that there is much more to be done to rescue poor countries from the worst of the global financial crisis.

During Thursday's G20 meeting in London, world leaders agreed to a raft of measures to combat the global financial downturn, pledging to spend five trillion dollars by the end of 2010, with USD 1.1 trillion going to the IMF.

The measures would see the sale of gold reserves to help poor countries, a new push to pass free trade rules, major reforms to the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, secretive tax havens named and shamed, and new rules on corporate pay.

"We welcome the 1.1 trillion dollars for global economic recovery. But we must ensure that poor countries get their fair Share -- that Uganda benefits as well as Ukraine," said Oxfam spokesman, Duncan Green.

This is while Greenpeace said the G20 had missed a chance to secure long-term environmental improvements, saying there were just 'vague aspirations'.

"Long-term economic recovery is dependent on tackling climate change," said Greenpeace UK's executive director, John Sauven.

"A full-blown climate crisis raises the prospect of mass migration, mass starvation and mass extinctions. It will make poverty permanent in the developing world and strangle growth in the developed."

UK Prime Minster, Gordon Brown, noted that the G20 nations are committed to ward off economic catastrophes; however, he pledged 'no quick fixes', for the global financial crises.