This summer Japan hosted the 49th Group of Seven (G7) Summit. The annual meeting draws representatives from many nations around the world to discuss stances on current global issues. This year topics such as the Russo-Ukraine War and clean energy economics presented as priorities for discussion. Thus, here is everything you need to know about The 2023 G7 Summit in Hiroshima, Japan.
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What is the G7 Summit?
The Group of Seven (G7) is a political forum consisting of seven nations: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK, and the US. The European Union (EU) sends representatives for the annual assembly but is not an official member.
The forum originated in 1973 when the US Secretary of Treasury, George Schultz, called a meeting at the White House to discuss the present oil crisis with finance ministers from Germany, France, and the UK. Adding and subtracting different countries along its history, the G7 Summit is held each year to talk over possible solutions for global issues.
Similar to the Olympics, the location of the meeting changes each occurrence. In fact, the host country is responsible for picking the topics of discussion and planning the venue. Therefore, other countries outside of the group attend as guests. In general, topics include: trade, security, economics, and climate change.
Who Attended the G7 Hiroshima Summit 2023?
This year, world leaders traveled to Hiroshima, Japan for the three-day summit.
G7 Summit Representatives
- Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida
- US President Joe Biden
- UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak
- French President Emmanuel Macron
- Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni
- Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau
- German Chancellor Olaf Scholz
Guests
- Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy
- Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese
- Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva
- Comoros President Azali Assoumani
- Indonesian President Joko Widodo
- President of the Republic of Korea Yoon Suk Yeol
- Vietnamese President Yoon Suk Yeol
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Topics Discussed
Russo-Ukraine War
Throughout the summit, leaders set up the next step to economically isolate Russia hoping to weaken its aggression. The US Department of Treasury, State, and Commerce worked to cut off over 70 companies from Russia and Russian allies from receiving US exports.
The group also created an Action Plan on Food Security to aid international peace and security.
Concerns about China
The world leaders agreed on protecting advanced technology that threatens national security. They strategized how to address the challenges created from China’s non-market practices. Additionally, the leaders created the G7 Coordination Platform on Economic Coercion as a response to China’s foreign policy influencing economic costs.
Clean Energy Economics
The G7 Summit attendees are aligned on the movement to establish resilient supply chains to ensure industrial bases for the group. This year the US is finally living up to the commitment of the Paris Agreement. Notably, President Biden has allocated part of the national budget to investing in building stable supply chains for the US. The united front to set up a cleaner world will hopefully come from the energy transition that all of these nations are now promoting.
Nuclear Disarmament
It is fitting that this conversation would occur in Hiroshima near the 78th anniversary of the city’s bombing. Fortunately there is a contrast between the events that took place during World War II and the current stance on nuclear warfare. Above all, leaders expressed their continued commitment to keep the world free of nuclear weaponry.
Global Food Insecurity
In 2022, G7 spent $14.9 billion for food security. With this in mind, leaders reaffirmed their commitment and added a need to build more sustainable and inclusive food systems.
Beyond the Summit
There are multiple plans put in place for the next year to improve as individual nations as well as globally. However, it is unknown if these plans will succeed. Nonetheless, next year’s summit is set to reconvene.
The G7 Summit 2023 went over many global issues that directly and indirectly affect the United States. With other world leaders being aligned on multiple fronts, the US can feel a little comforted knowing we are not alone in our actions. Therefore, the US can take comfort knowing that we stand united and are all working to improve the only world we have.
When Is the Next G7 Summit?
The G7 Summit 2024 will be hosted in Puglia, Italy to align with the summit’s focus on the Global South. While the exact timing is still unknown, the 2024 summit is being held sometime in mid-June. By this time, the European elections will have occurred. However, the nomination of European representatives for the European Council is unknown.