There was also high compliance with pledges for climate change mitigation efforts and forest degradation.

Last year, at the height of the global economic crisis, G8 leaders paid a lot of attention to the issue. That’s varied a bit since then.

“You saw some high scores in things like foreign direct investment and international financial institutions. But in terms of protectionist barriers, most countries instituted tariffs and protectionist barriers. So you saw incredibly low compliance in that area,” she says.

Developing countries

Critics of the G8 issue frequent reports on the failure of the rich nations to keep their promises. Fitzgerald says such criticisms will likely be heard again before the June summit.

“They talk quite a lot about official development assistance and aid effectiveness. And typically in that area the compliance in these commitments is the lowest. The commitments that they make are generally the same ones every year because they weren’t achieved the year before.