Talk Turkey: Secular Policy Institute’s┬áTurkish Coalition Member
The weekly report on US and International policy
by Edwina Rogers
Secular Policy Institute┬ágave a grant to the Association of Atheism in Turkey so they could send a speaker to the Center for Inquiry event being held in Buffalo, NY June 11 through 15. ┬áSecular Policy Institute CEO Edwina Rogers will also attend. ┬áAssociation of Atheism’s website was banned by the Turkish government for a while because they posted the question “Is Islam violent?” ┬áThe website was reinstated but the question had to be removed.
The most significant outcome of the summit was on mitigating the impact of climate changeÔÇöa national security imperative for the groupÔÇÖs European members and a major domestic priority for Obama. In many ways, this G7 meeting was an important preparatory meeting in the run-up to the Paris COP 21 Climate Summit in December where SPI staff plan to attend. ┬áG7 leaders agreed to adopt ambitious climate targets, including a 40-70% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 (based on 2010 levels) and jointly dedicate $100 billion annually (from private and public sources) to help nations address the effects of climate change. ┬áThis summit was a strong showing for a group that only a few years ago was written off as irrelevant (a 2009 headline asserted that ÔÇ£The G7 is Dead; Long Live the G20ÔÇØ). Clearly, reports of the G7ÔÇÖs death have been greatly exaggerated. The G7 is back.
The AP has comprehensive coverage of the happenings at the G7, including the powers having agreed the world should phase out fossil fuel emissions this century.