On Friday, the heads of state and government of the G7 gathered in Hiroshima, Japan, for their annual summit. What does the abbreviation G7 mean? Why does this peak exist? How it works?
The global economic crisis of 1975 gave Chancellor Helmut Schmidt and French President Valéry Giscard d’Estaing the idea of organizing a summit of the largest industrialized countries to find a solution. At the first meeting at the Chateau de Rambouillet near Paris, the Heads of State and Government of France, Germany, the United States, Great Britain, Japan and Italy met reunited. A year later, Canada completed group seven for the next 30 years or so.
G7 expansion failed
Russia became a full member in 2002, but the G8 existed only until 2013. Due to Russia’s annexation of Crimea, the summit in Sochi, Russia, on the Black Sea was exploded in 2014. Since then, the group has been renamed G7.
The Group of Seven originally comprised the world’s seven largest industrialized countries. This is no longer the case today: Italy and Canada have been knocked out of the top seven by China and India. However, economic power is no longer seen as the most important link between member countries. The shared values of the seven democracies are important in the face of growing competition from authoritarian regimes like China and Russia.
Each year, several guests are invited to the summit chosen by the host. This time there are several Asian countries, including India and India which is the most populated after China. India leads the larger Group of Twenty, which will hold its summit in New Delhi in September. Indonesia currently chairs the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Vietnam, South Korea and Australia have also been invited to Hiroshima. The Cook Islands will represent many of the small island nations in the Pacific Ocean. This time only Comoros, which currently chairs the 55-nation African Union, were the only Africans present. Brazil, which will assume the presidency of the G20 next year, received an invitation from South America.
The next meeting will take place in Hiroshima
At first, the summit was mainly about the economy. This is why the meeting is called a world economic summit. Today we deal with all sorts of global issues, including this time the Ukrainian war and its aftermath and relations between the West and China. But climate protection will also be a major theme, as every year.
The annual summit of heads of state and government is prepared by a meeting of negotiators and relevant ministers. Binding decisions do not deviate from the highest meeting at the end. However, in the final document, the position and the common objectives which must be measured by the Heads of State and Government must be determined. In addition, other articles on particular topics were selected. Five of them are scheduled for this year and focus on Ukraine, economic security, nuclear disarmament, renewable energy and food security.
Image credit: Image Alliance/Michael Bellmayer
The seven member countries take turns. Last year it was Germany’s turn, this year it’s Japan, and then it’s Italy.
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