INSIDE GRENADA SUNDAY December 10,2007 (Reprinted from Government of Grenada website) St. George’s: The Foreign Ministry of Grenada presented to the G8 on Monday 3rd December in Germany’s capital city, Berlin. The G8 or Group of Eight, comprised of eight of the world’s most industrialized nations, held this meeting to provide further political impetus to the Climate Change negotiations being held in Bali. Grenada, in its capacity as Chair of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) was invited to make a presentation to the G8 by the Foreign Minister of Germany. Grenada’s position in the international spotlight follows the Prime Minister’s visit to the United Nations in September of this year where he presented to world leaders, including the German Chancellor and the presidents of the United States, France, Brazil, South Africa and other countries, at a special closed working dinner hosted by the Secretary General of the United Nations in September of this year. At the Berlin meeting German Foreign Minister, Mr. Frank-Walter Steinmeier, told his counterparts from the G8 and the five leading emerging countries that coordinated action was critical for real results at the UN-sponsored climate change conference in Bali. Grenada’s UN Ambassador, Dr. Angus Friday who headed the AOSIS delegation to Berlin, led the G8 discussion on Climate Change and Global Security. He noted, “Our role in Berlin was to highlight the security threats caused by Climate Change and to emphasize prevention through aggressive cuts to green house gas emissions and provision of significant financing for the sustainable development of small island and low-lying coastal states. These countries are already experiencing the impacts of Climate Change.” In concluding he remarked, “Judging from the feedback, it’s fair to say that the presentation was well received and this marks another milestone for Grenada and AOSIS” This G8 Ministerial meeting in Berlin comes on the heals of the G8 Summit in Heiligendamm earlier this year and was attended by the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Russia, Canada, Australia and Japan. Also present were the “Öutreach 5” comprised of India, China, Brazil, South Africa and Mexico. Other European countries and international organizations were also represented at the meeting with a total of 26 delegations in all. Ambassador Friday recently visited the Maldives at the invitation of that country’s president to a conference on the Human Dimension of Climate Change where he gave one of the three inaugural addresses. While there, he was able to see first hand, how sea level rise was already affecting the people of the Maldives. Dr. Friday flew from Berlin to Bali to join Grenada’s delegation there which includes Mr. Leon Charles and Dr. Spencer Thomas who are playing leading roles in the UN Climate Change Convention and in AOSIS.