The leaders of the G8 nations must take decisive action to halt spiralling rises in food and oil prices and to increase aid to developing nations the Secretary General of the United Nations has said.

Spiralling food and oil prices dominated the first day of the G8 summit in Japan. The Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, arrived at the summit calling for the launch of a ‘global action plan’ to tackle rising food prices.

In the run up to the G8 summit in Japan, presidents of nine Catholic Bishops’ Conferences have called on G8 nations to honour their commitments to reduce global poverty and tackle climate change.

On the opening day of the G8 summit, leading international debt cancellation advocacy groups declared that the deal leaders negotiated 2 years ago has not solved the debt crisis. They also issued a strong call to the G8 to stop the activities of 'vulture funds'.

With the G8 summit only one month away, the Pope has backed a call from a worldwide delegation of bishops to put poverty at the heart of the agenda.

Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor has led an international delegation to 10 Downing Street to remind Tony Blair of Britain’s commitment to the G8 pledges made at Gleneagles.

Leaders of G8 countries must take the next steps to meet their commitments to end extreme poverty and stop AIDS' devastation in the developing world, Christian aid agency World Vision has said in a paper released for this week's meeting of government development ministers.

Campaigners across England and Wales are gearing up to put pressure the G8 to take urgent action over poverty, when it meets in June.