President Obama Meets Pope Benedict at the Vatican

Modest Results From Summit

Obama leaves the three-day G-8 summit with modest tangible results.

President Barack Obama answers a question at a press conference at the end of the G8 Summit in...

President Barack Obama answers a question at a press conference at the end of the G8 Summit in L'Aquila, Italy, Friday, July 10, 2009. Later today President Obama pays a visit to Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican, the first meeting between the American president and the Catholic leader.

(Charles Dharapak/AP Photo)
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There was no unanimity among the leaders of the Group of Eight industrialized nations about whether Iran should be further punished with tougher sanctions, and in the end, the group opted for a toughly worded statement.

Obama denied reports that he was disappointed that the leaders did not issue a stronger message on Iran's nuclear weapons programs or outline sanctions.

"This notion that we were trying to get sanctions or [that] this was a forum in which we could get sanctions is not accurate," he said. "What we wanted was exactly what we got, which is a statement of unity and strong condemnation about the appalling treatment of peaceful protestors post-election in Iran as well as some behavior that violates basic international norms."

Obama said a time frame was established, and there will be an evaluation of Iran's posture toward negotiating a halt to its nuclear weapons program at the G-20 summit in Pittsburgh in September.

"The international community has said here's a door you can walk though which allows you to lessen tensions and more fully join the international community," the president said. "If Iran chooses not to walk though that door, then you have on record the G-8 to begin with, but I think potentially a lot of other countries that are going to say we need to take further steps."

G-8 Agrees on Reduction in Greenhouse Gases

G-8 leaders agreed to work toward a 50 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions worldwide by 2050, with a global reduction for developed countries of 80 percent, hoping to limit the rise in global temperatures to no more than 2 degrees Celsius, or 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit. But this was a nonbinding goal.

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"We still have much work ahead on climate change. But these achievements are highly meaningful, and they will generate significant momentum as we head into the talks at Copenhagen and beyond," he said, referring to the United Nations conference on climate change at the end of the year.

Additional work was done on nuclear nonproliferation, the global health of the economy, and food aid and safety.

"After weeks of preparation, and three days of candid and spirited discussions, we've agreed to take significant measures to address some of the most pressing threats facing our environment, our global economy and our international security," Obama said. "We did not reach agreement on every issue."

Despite touting modest successes after three days of meetings, Obama allowed that he feels ambivalent toward these large summits and thinks that their shape will evolve over the next several years.

"The one thing I will be looking forward to is fewer summit meetings. Because as you said, I've only been in office six months now, and there're been a lot of these, and I think that there is a possibility of streamlining them and making them more effective," he said.

Obama is the host of the next major international summit -- the follow-up meeting on the global economic crisis with the G-20 nations in Pittsburgh in September.

He acknowledged that it is difficult to determine who to include in these global summits and that every nation wants a seat at an exclusive table.

"One point that I did make in the meeting is what I've noticed is that everybody wants the smallest possible group, smallest possible organization that includes them," he said. "So if they're the 21st largest nation in the world, then they want the G-21 -- and think it's highly unfair if they've been cut out."