Bringing together the leaders of the biggest industrial economies plus Russia, the G8 aims to address major global challenges, such as the emerging oil and food crisis, environmental degradation and the stability of the world economy. Its leaders are in a privileged position to bring together other countries and international organisations, such as the United Nations, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, to establish workable and sustainable approaches to address trans-national and global challenges. For these efforts to be successful though corruption needs to be tackled and good governance supported. Without a united global campaign against corruption, the Millennium Development Goals, in particular those on health, education and public services such as water and sanitation, will remain out of reach.

In a speech to the 2008 Civil G8 Dialogue in April, Cobus de Swardt, Managing Director of Transparency International, noted: "The Group of Eight bears a special responsibility in leading the effort against corruption and for stronger governance, as powerful and privileged societies of plenty. And they bear a responsibility not just in formulating measures for clean, accountable governance, but also in being the first to carry these out, whether in the context of their domestic institutions, the regulation of their companies or as development assistance partners."

The powerful anti-corruption commitments in the G8 communiqué at the 2007 Heiligendamm Summit recognised the importance of fighting foreign bribery, promoting international anti-corruption conventions and bolstering transparency in the oil and gas sectors. Yet history shows that the action taken has often fallen short of the pledges made.

In 2004, the G8 countries committed to becoming party to the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC), the global anti-corruption convention. Four years on, and despite over 100 countries having ratified the UNCAC, Germany, Italy and Japan have failed to take action.

Similarly, the enforcement of the landmark OECD Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials, crucial to curbing foreign bribery in international business and development, has been uneven among G8 countries to date. France, Germany and the United States have significantly enforced the OECD Convention, however, Canada, Japan and the UK have done little to enforce their foreign bribery laws. Russia has yet to take the step to becoming party to the Convention, despite having the highest levels of public sector corruption among G8 member countries. Furthermore, the UK’s decision to discontinue a bribery investigation on the basis of national security concerns creates a dangerous precedent for the future of the Convention.

With an estimated two thirds of the world’s poorest living in resource rich countries, the support of the G8 for the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) is crucial to ensuring economic growth and poverty reduction. A coalition of governments, companies, civil society groups and international organisations, the EITI aims to strengthen governance by improving transparency and accountability in the extractives sector. Since 2003, the G8 has committed to providing financial and technical advice to the EITI and the countries implementing it. Despite these pledges though, Japan and Russia have done little to support the initiative.

The areas in which the G8’s performance has fallen short of past commitments underline the importance for leaders to report back on the implementation of their pledges, with benchmarks and timetables for future progress. The accountability of the G8 leaders to both their own electorates and the global community on the implementation of commitments made is key to the G8’s credibility and relevance. TI warmly welcomes the publication of the G8’s accountability report, after pressing the G8 for over a year to report back on anti-corruption commitments made since the 2002 Kananaskis Summit. It is also encouraging that Russia states its intention in the report to become party to the OECD Convention. However, the non-standardised information provided by the different countries makes it difficult to quantify and detail is lacking on such questions as the UK’s decision not to fully enforce the ban on foreign bribery and Germany’s decision not to ratify the UNCAC.

Recognising the important role civil society must play in helping to shape the G8 agenda and hold leaders to account, TI national chapters in the G8 countries have reviewed leaders’ commitments since 2002. As part of these efforts, the TI G8 National Chapter Working Group released its second annual G8 Progress Report on the eve of the Hokkaido Toyako G8 Summit, assessing action on key commitments to reduce corruption as well as providing recommendations. The report concludes that “performance falls short with profound adverse consequences for progress on broader G8 goals: alleviating poverty, protecting the environment, addressing climate change, accelerating economic development, achieving the Millennium Development Goals, increasing transparency and stability of financial markets and fostering fair competition in trade and investment.”

In the run up to the Summit the group engaged in a programme of targeted advocacy. Through a process of extensive consultation the group developed recommendations for the G8 which were communicated through a series of letters to G8 sherpas - the leaders’ personal representatives who are responsible for preparing the G8 - and ministers in advance of G8 preparatory meetings. The group also teamed up with 13 African TI chapters to call attention to the importance of mutual accountability across the income divide and the need to address the corruption-poverty cycle that plagues so many on the continent.

One month before the Summit, TI Board Member and Chair of TI Korea (South) Geo Sung Kim participated in a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Fukuda and civil society leaders. Geo Sung Kim emphasised the need for stronger governance institutions as well as the ratification and enforcement of international anti-corruption conventions if the Millennium Development Goals are to be realised. He also praised the G8's youth initiative 'Junior 8' and recommended that integrity and governance be included as key issues for youth education.