Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Russian President Vladimir Putin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, U.S. President George W. Bush, British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso (L-R) sit in an oversized beach chair in Heiligendamm June 7, 2007. Leaders from the world's major industrialised nations meet in the Baltic resort of Heiligendamm on June 6-8 for a Group of Eight (G8) summit. [Photo: Xinhua/Reuters]

Climate change, aid for Africa and growing tension between the United States and Russia. These were the major themes of the week in Germany as the leaders of the world’s 8^th most powerful nations met to discuss the collective issues.  But while there seem to be consensus among all the leaders of the group that the problems of climate change and Africa need to be addressed, the problem is that none of them seem to know how to do it together.  So what will the results of this latest G8 Summit be?  And will the political tension between Russia and the United States over a proposed missile defense shield in Poland and the Czech Republic subside? 

Ni hao, you're listening to People In the Know, your window into the world around you, online at www.crienglish.com here on China Radio International.  In this edition of the show, we'll talk about the G8 Summit this week in Germany and all the factors involved.  So let's get started.

(Music)

One of the biggest issues on the agenda this week in Germany among the G8 leaders is how to tackle climate change.  And one of the groups involved with the G8 on this issue is the International Energy Agency.  So to get their perspective on this, we're joined by the IEA's Executive Director, Mr. Claude Mandil.

(Dialogue with Mandil)

After we take a short break, we'll come back and look at this week's G8 Summit from a political perspective.

(Promo)

Ni hao, you're listening to People In the Know,, your window into the world around you, online at www.crienglish.com here on China Radio International.  I’m Paul James in Beijing.  In this edition of the show, we're talking about this week's G8 Summit in Germany.  For a look inside the geo-politics of it all, we're joined on the line from Brussels by Dr. Antonio Missiroli, Director of Studies with the European Policy Center.

(Dialogue with Missiroli)

And with that we conclude this edition and this week of People In the Know,, online at www.crienglish.com here on China Radio International.  As the old saying goes, with great power comes great responsibility.  A sage reminder for the G8 nations.  If you have any questions or comments for us on this, or any of our other programs, drop us a line at crieng@crifm.com.  For Executive Director Lin Lin and Producer Wang Lei, I’m Paul James in Beijing.  Enjoy your weekend.