What Power Does the G7 Hold?

Post by Marina George, JMU ’22, Psychology and Political Science

What is the G7 summit?

The G7, short for Group of Seven (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States) is a group of leaders representing the world’s largest economies. Russia was suspended from this group in 2014 as seven countries allied to remove it due to their violation of a European country’s borders in its annexation of Crimea. The G7 summit is the meeting of this group of leaders that takes place every year. This year, 2021, the G7 summit took place in the UK. Leaders met at the Carbis Bay Hotel in Cornwall, UK to discuss major world issues. In order to meet in person this past summit, the UK government pushed for the world leaders to perform regular COVID testing.

What takes place at the G7 summit and what power does the G7 hold?

Since the G7 includes countries that share similar views on human rights and security, as well as trade policy and political pluralism, there is the opportunity for discussion and collective influence. Specifically, officials of the member countries form agreements and put forth joint statements regarding global events and meetings. This summit is when the leaders come together to discuss the culmination of their work and to further commit to efforts in combating environmental and international challenges presented. The G-7 holds importance on a global scale as it allows for leaders to coordinate and make decisions that make a global impact. While the summit only serves as a meeting of these global leaders to discuss these decisions, the G-7 work year-round to make progress on the decisions discussed and to forward various goals in their own member countries.

Highlights of 2021

Primary Push at the Summit

In the 2021 G-7 summit, there was a push for the G-7 to serve overall as a united front against global threats which included tackling the Coronavirus pandemic as well as protecting universal human rights. In its focus on the pandemic, there was a commitment by each of the member nations to donating 1 billion Coronavirus vaccines to those in need. There were multiple other focuses at the summit discussed below, ranging from threats posed by China and Russia to the environmental goals and progress that the G-7 member countries have made so far.

Threats to Democracy

Overall, Global democracy has taken a hit, with democratic freedoms across the globe due to the pandemic. Authoritarian regimes have taken advantage of the global crisis in order to challenge democratic values and practices of activism. There was a primary focus on the threats posed by China and Russia to the international stage. President Biden pushed for the need to provide a democratic alternative to the forms of government presented by these two nations.

Focus on China

Additionally, in regard to China specifically, the G-7 aimed to find an alternative to the Belt and Road Initiative that China is enacting, as well as continuing an investigation of the origins of the Coronavirus. Specifically, in response to the Belt and Road initiative, the G7 has largely agreed to back an infrastructure plan introduced by President Biden. This plan would push to raise money both publicly and privately to bolster the infrastructure gap of countries in need by 2035. Biden pushed other leaders to recognize that this plan is necessary in order to show the global arena that China’s human rights violations in terms of forced labor are unacceptable. In rivalling the Belt and Road Initiative, as well as investigating the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic, the G7 was able to express their values in supporting the goal of protecting human rights on a global scale.

Environmental Goals

Coal has been recognized overarchingly to be a major root cause of climate change. However, while this has been acknowledged as an issue, G-7 countries continue to burn large amounts of coal, even with efficient and renewable alternatives available to them. The responsibility of the G-7 is to provide a clear pathway for the world away from coal by making strides to shift from fossil fuel usage into more sustainable sources of energy.

Thus, during the 2021 summit, the G-7 has promised to end international funding for coal projects by 2022. However, they failed overarchingly to agree to a firm date to cease the burning of coal. This struggle was primarily due to the United States and Japan blocking a deal. The reasoning presented by Japan regarding the block was due to their dependence on coal after the 2011 Fukushima nuclear accident, while the United States cited concerns regarding maintaining the senate majority and the interests of coal mining presented by Joe Manchin.

Sources utilized:

• Council on Foreign Relations
• Chatham House
• IPSOS
• Pew Research Center
• Kantar Media
• Reuters
• The Economist
• Foreign Policy
• Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
• Politico
• Oxfam
• Forbes
• BBC
• CNN
• New York Times