The G8 summit has evolved beyond being a gathering of world political leaders to become an occasion for a wide variety of non-governmental organizations, activists and civic groups to congregate and discuss a multitude of issues.

[43] Africa, which has been on the G8 agenda since 2000 when Japan last chaired the G8, has continued to lag behind on progress towards meeting Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) while Asia has made considerable strides during the same period.

[44] After discussions, the G8 leaders announced new measures on improving education, health, water supplies and sanitation and increasing the number of doctors and nurses in Africa.

Fukuda and Brown are reported to be pressing for the fulfillment of pledges made at the 2005 Gleneagles summit, but Sarkozy and Berlusconi are seen to be for pulling back from those commitments.

[45] The G8 leaders set a five-year deadline to commit $60-billion in funding to help Africa fight disease, including pledging 100 million mosquito nets by 2010 which will prevent thousands of deaths from malaria.

[46] A package of proposals has been developed for further discussion including "a new framework that will ensure participation by the United States and China, the world's largest greenhouse-gas emitters."

[8] G8 leaders agreed on the need for the world to cut carbon emissions blamed for global warming by at least 50 percent by 2050 and for each nation to set its own target for near term goals.

The communiqué represents a small step forward from last year's call to "consider seriously" such long-term cuts; but environmental activists and leaders from the developing countries were disappointed, describing the statement as a toothless gesture.

[6] The impact of climate change on small Pacific Island nations will also be an "unofficial theme" of the G8 summit, according to a report by the Asahi Evening News.

[47] Japan had unveiled a plan called the Cool Earth Partnership in June 2008 in order to help small Pacific states and other developing nations cope with the challenges of climate change.

[47] An official for the Japanese Ministry of the Environment stated that it wanted to unveil the new aid package before the G8 Summit in order to further dialogue on the subject.

[8] G8 leaders called on those nations with sufficient food stocks to release some of their reserves to help others cope with soaring prices; and the G8's mildly worded communiqué said it was "imperative" to remove export restrictions.

Monday's agenda included the following:[52] The second day of meetings in Tōyako focused on the food crisis, oil prices, and climate change.

Tuesday's agenda included the following:[52] The third day of the summit was devoted to crafting summary statements to describe some of the substantive issues which were discussed by the leaders.

Wednesday's agenda encompassed the following:[52] International development NGOs[89] and networks reacted with a mixture of disappointment and frustration to the final communiqué of the July 2008 G8 summit in Hokkaido, Japan.

60,000 British citizens and 1,000,000 people worldwide had signed petitions calling on G8 leaders to resolve the food crisis, address climate change, deliver funds for water and sanitation, and provide aid for healthcare and education.

Over 40 dissidents were arrested before the summit started[11] and nineteen or twenty Koreans critical of the G8 leadership were detained at New Chitose Airport for at least 24 hours.

The promise that they would fulfil the Millennium Development Goals: primary school education for everyone; HIV medicines for all the people that are requiring it; maternal health; sustainable environment.

[54] In the evening of July 7, the G8 leaders were invited to create their own tanzaku, and the group was captured by the summit photographer in front of the bamboo on which their private wishes had been tied.

The same theme was exploited by non-governmental organizations like Oxfam and CARE International in setting up an online wish petition campaign to coincide with the G8 Summit and Tanabata.

[citation needed] During the month before the 34th G8 Summit started, "over 40 people were arrested in pre-emptive sweeps of broad left and anarchist groups".

Via Campesina asserted the "right to meet, demonstrate and propose solutions to the problems facing humanity and the environment" and demanded that "all the farmers, workers and other activists detained at the Sapporo Airport be allowed to join the civil society activities parallel to the G8 Summit.

[92] In a sense, this text is the work product of something like citizen journalism, creating this article as part of "the first rough draft of history.

"[93] The composition of the G8 summit is not an agenda item, but wanted to see the group expand to include China, Mexico, India, Brazil and other major economies like Australia, South Korea, and Spain.

[94] More than one analyst suggests that a G8 summit is not the place to flesh out the details of any difficult or controversial policy issue in the context of a three-day event.

At the 2004 summit at Sea Island in United States, the G8 leaders agreed to extend debt relief programs for poor countries, but fell short of demands for a total write-off of loans owed by African nations to multilateral lending agencies.

In Saint Petersburg in Russia, the G8 leaders agreed to a formal agenda of energy security, combating infectious diseases and promoting education—all topics held little controversy and required no financial commitment by G8 members.

[100] For Africa, the G8 pledged $60 billion to fight AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis;[98] but the declaration set out no specific timetable, nor did it break down individual countries' contributions or spell out how much of the total funds had been previously promised.

[107] Hokkaido's small businesses which were located near the summit site discovered that most of their customers were policemen during the event; and the tourist trade was virtually dead."

"[104] In contrast, a foreign ministry spokesman focused on the exposure Toyako [Lake Toya] received in the international media; and he argued that the short-term sacrifice would prove to be worthwhile in terms of long-term business opportunities.