G8 committed to achieving universal access to treatment by 2010

The G8 came to Scotland - People & Planet were there to meet them with our Summer Festival, which included key note speakers, skills workshops and campaign actions:

• Intensive campaigning before and during the G8 summit led to a major success for our AIDS campaign as the G8 committed to achieving universal access to treatment by 2010. We continued the campaign for several years.
• 250 students paid a visit to Grangemouth oil refinery with Friends of the Earth Scotland. In the company of eight G8 ‘mermen’, a giant inflatable dinosaur, and a variety of sea creatures, we had a beach-party as the oil refinery sank beneath blue fabric waves. Grangemouth was chosen because it contains four of Scotland’s top ten carbon dioxide emitters, yet ironically is at sea-level, leaving it vulnerable to the effects of climate change.
• Numerous workshops, speaker sessions and fire-side conversations focused on the fundamental injustices in the structure of the international system. We considered the importance of trade as a MAKEPOVERTYHISTORY demand, and how the value of aid and debt relief is undermined by conditions which force trade liberalisation and prioritise the interests of Western corporations over the interests of the poor. Although the G8 made no new trade commitments we continue to campaign for a change in the rules to help poor people and protect the environment.