G8 leaders meeting in L’Aquila in Italy this week “squandered” the opportunity to agree adequate funds to help poor countries respond to climate change, says Christian aid agency Tearfund.

It welcomed the commitment by the G8 nations this week to cut their carbon emissions by 80 per cent and their acknowledgement of the need to keep global temperature rises below two degrees.

“However, ambitious goals for 2020 emissions targets have sunk without trace and the financial bone of contention still remains,” said Tearfund’s Director of Advocacy Paul Cook.

He urged developed countries to deliver $150 billion a year to help poorer countries finance the mitigation, adaptation and technology needed to deal with the impact of climate change.

Mr Cook said rich countries “must do better” when they meet for the G20 Summit in September.

He went on to chide G8 leaders for failing to sign up to a Global Framework for Action in response to the current water and sanitation crisis which has resulted in one in eight people in the world without clean water and 2.5 billion without a decent toilet.

“Instead of seizing the moment to deliver what was a simple ask, nice words were presented and a vague reference to a plan of action by the end of the year,” said Mr Cook.

He concluded: “It’s inconceivable that these leaders can walk away from addressing such an appalling injustice. They cannot blame the financial crisis for this, as money was not asked for; just political will.

“Unfortunately, what we have seen this week is a shocking abdication of leadership at a time when the G8, in the midst of a global economic crisis, were desperately needed to put their own interests aside and focus more on those who have never known anything else other than financial lack.”

World Vision, meanwhile, questioned whether the G8’s pledge to deliver $20 billion for food and agriculture would be enough to stave off hunger for the one billion people in the world going without enough to eat each day.

The Christian aid agency said that the L’Aquila Food Security Initiative provided an encouraging rebalance between funding for food aid and aid for agriculture but accused the G8 of being “opaque” about the details of its financial commitments.

Head of Public Affairs at World Vision, Patrick Watt, said it was unclear how much of the $20 billion pledged was new money and how it would be rolled out to those most affected by hunger.

He also warned that the initiative did not yet include a donor-by-donor breakdown, making accountability impossible.

“The G8 wanted to pull a big rabbit out of the hat on the final day, but it’s still unclear how much of this sum is an illusion and how much is a real effort to end global hunger,” said Mr Watt.

“Every six seconds a child dies of hunger-related causes. Malnourished children in poor countries are twice as likely to die from such diseases as malaria and pneumonia.

“If this renewed focus on fighting global hunger is followed through, it will be the best decision the G8 leaders have made in L’Aquila.”