What is being discussed at the G7 in Japan
The G7 agenda in Japan is demanding and expectations are very high. Leaders are grappling with severe and prolonged shocks resulting from the vulnerabilities of their countries, but also from the failure of international institutions. The point of Chiara Oldani and John Kirton
Premier Giorgia Meloni has arrived in Hiroshima in Japan for a truly historic summit held from 19 to 21 May 2023. The choice of Hiroshima is not accidental, a place of nuclear destruction and rebirth. The G7 leaders will simultaneously face two existential threats to the planet and its population as a whole.
The first is the danger of nuclear weapons proliferation and even war in Europe, the Middle East and Asia, stemming from the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, Iran's drive to acquire nuclear weapons, North Korea equipped of nuclear weapons that threatens its neighbors and by a militarize China practicing to invade Taiwan.
The second threat is climate change, which is inexorably pushing global temperatures towards livable limits and approaching tipping points beyond which there is no return.
Accompanying this deadly duo are the interconnected crises of economic resilience and economic security, energy and food, health and development. Also prominent on the summit agenda are gender equality, human rights and democracy, digitization and science and technology.
Two perspectives inspire the G7's approach to its agenda: first, "upholding the international order based on the rule of law, firmly rejecting any unilateral attempt to change the status quo by force or the threat of using weapons nuclear weapons, as Russia has done, or the use of nuclear weapons”, and secondly, “strengthen outreach to the Global South by demonstrating the G7's contributions to issues of concern to them”
The agenda of this G7 is really demanding and expectations are very high. Leaders are grappling with severe and prolonged shocks resulting from the vulnerabilities of their countries, but also from the failure of international institutions.
Strong global governance is needed more than ever in 2023.
Clare Oldani
John Kirton, G7 Research Group
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/mondo/di-cosa-si-discute-al-g7-in-giappone/ on Thu, 18 May 2023 09:51:11 +0000.