Citing 'productive' G8, Obama heads to Africa with a message

L'AQUILA, Italy (CNN) - President Obama declared the G8 summit Friday "highly productive," writing off suggestions that the United States did not get some key things it wanted out of the meeting.

"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 told reporters at a news conference.

He denied reports that the United States had sought potential new sanctions against Iran for its violent crackdown on protesters following the recent presidential election. Instead, Obama said, "What we wanted was exactly what we got, which is a statement of unity and strong condemnation about the appalling treatment of peaceful protesters."

He also noted that on climate change, the G8 nations agreed to "reduce our emissions by 80 percent" - though the deadline for such achievement was set for 2050.

"We did not reach agreement on every issue. And we still have much work ahead on climate change," Obama said. "But these achievements are highly meaningful and they'll generate significant momentum" for future talks.

The G8 - the gathering of the wealthiest nations - agreed to work together to solve the worldwide financial crisis, Obama said.

A key part of that: an agreement to invest $20 billion to fight world hunger.

Going into the meeting, the group had planned $15 billion. Obama said the change came in part due to a move on his part - citing his own family background.

"My father traveled to the united states a mere 50 years ago. And yet now I have family members who live in villages. They themselves are not going hungry, but live in villages where hunger is real. And so this is something that I understand in very personal terms," he said.

Obama said he shared that with fellow G8 leaders, and pointed to corruption and "lack of transparency" in much of Africa.