Introduction:
Leaders of the G7 grouping and its five partner countries, including India have said that they seek to promote a rules-based international order, respect other states’ territorial integrity and sovereignty and vowed to remain steadfast in their commitment to defending peace, human rights and the rule of law. In a joint statement after the summit meeting in Germany G7 leaders affirmed their commitment to working towards equitable, inclusive and sustainable solutions to global challenges, including climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic. The G7 also pledged to raise 600 billion dollars in private & public funds over 5 years to finance infra in developing countries. Addressing the session on Climate, Energy and Health, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said access to energy should not be a privilege of the rich and the poor also should have equal right to energy. In his remarks at another special session on food security and gender equality PM Modi shared India’s experiences and efforts in these areas and also suggested a list of focus areas, that can help in ensuring food security.
- The G7, originally G8,was set up in 1975 as an informal forum bringing together the leaders of the world’s leading industrial nations.
- The summit gathers leaders from the European Union (EU) and the following countries:Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States.
- The major purposeof the G-7 is to discuss and deliberate on international economic issues. It sometimes acts in concert to help resolve other global problems, with a special focus on economic issues.
How did G7 become G8?
- Russia was formally inducted as a member in the group in 1998, which led G7 to become G8.
- However, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s condemnable act of moving Russian troops into eastern Ukraine and conquering Crimea in 2014 drew heavy criticism from the other G8 nations.
- The other nations of the group decided to suspend Russia from the G8 as a consequence of its actions and the group became G7 again in 2014.
Key Highlights:
- The statement condemned Russia’s illegal and unjustifiable war of aggression against Ukraine.
- G7 members will continue to impose severe and enduring costs on Russia to help bring an end to this war.
- The participating leaders pledged to spend $4. 5 billion this year to help ensure food security around the globe.
- G7 leaders condemned China’s non-transparent and market-distorting international trade practices.
- Through its Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment, G7 countries aim to mobilize USD 600 billion over the next five years to narrow the global investment gap.
- G7 members decided to step up their cooperation globally, including through working towards new Just Energy Transition Partnerships with Indonesia, India, Senegal and Vietnam, building on the existing partnership with South Africa.
What does the G7 do?
- The G7 was formed initially to discuss economic and political concerns prompted by the 1973 oil crisis – when members of OPEC, the Organization of Petroleum Export Countries, increased the price of oil and cut global supplies to countries seen as having backed Israel in the Yom Kippur War.
- Since then, the group has expanded its brief to cover a large number of international issues, including energy security, trade, climate change, global health issues, gender equality, poverty – and any other topic the country holding the G7 presidency chooses to put on the agenda.
- Today, the G7 are reckoned as the seven wealthiest and most advanced nations in the world because China, which holds the second largest net worth in the world, nonetheless has a low net worth per individual and an economy that has not yet fully modernized.
The G7 fill out numerous global top lists:
- Leading export countries
- Largest gold reserves
- Largest nuclear energy producers
- Top contributors to the UN budget
Criticisms against G7:
- G7 gatherings tend to attract thousands of protesters, and it is protested by thousands every year.
- Many protesters claim the G7 – which has no representative from any African, Russian or Middle Eastern nation – is completely outdated.
- Protest groups also use the worldwide platform as a stage to lobby and campaign on issues that are important to them.
- G7 leaders are creating a wide gap between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have-nots’ both in their countries as well as across the globe, according to a new report published by non-profit Oxfam International. As a result, they are making the fight against alleviating poverty more difficult, claimed the report.
