On the eve of the G7 in Biarritz, Oxfam denounces the "cynicism" of the richest countries

According to Cécile Duflot, Executive Director of Oxfam France, Emmanuel Macron has shown a "cynical foolproof" by placing the G7 under the banner of the fight against inequality. "In the tendency to the extreme accumulation of wealth, the G7 countries are the kings," she accuses.

France has chosen the theme of the fight against inequalities as a priority for the next G7 summit, which will take place from 24 to 26 August in Biarritz.

Yet Oxfam believes that the G7 countries - the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan - account for 45% of the world's wealth, while not representing that 10% of the world's population - have further "encouraged the development of an inegalitarian system that allows multinationals and the ultra-rich to control political decisions in their favor".

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Ditch between rich and poor

"Income inequality has worsened in all G7 countries since the 1980s," said Oxfam, explaining that "the poorest 20 per cent of the G7 population receives, on average, only 5 per cent of the total while the richest 20% receive around 45%. "

Inequalities in each of the states that, according to Bertrand Badie, professor emeritus of the Universities of Sciences Po Paris and political scientist specializing in international relations interviewed by France 24, are directly linked to a neoliberal and market economy that, by its dynamics, creates and aggravates inequalities. "From the moment this policy of redistribution is not done, inequality starts to increase at a high speed," he says.

It also explains that globalization has resulted in "an impoverishment of the middle classes within the former great powers", and especially of the Western powers, "hence this anti-globalization reflex, on which Donald Trump surfs for impose its critical vision of the world order as it is.

Two years ago, at the G7 summit in Italy in 2017, a declaration supporting the need to reduce these gaps had already been made, leading to Bari's political agenda on growth and inequality. However, no concrete steps, no commitment, no plan to bring real change have been made since, deplores Oxfam, adding that because of stagnation and lower wages, "the share of workers in the countries G7 that could be trapped in poverty has only increased over the past decade. "

The European Commission's Directorate General for Statistical Information at Community Level, Eurostat, reveals that they represent 9% of the population in Germany, more than 7% in France, 12% in Italy and nearly 9% in the United Kingdom.

"Despite this, (...) this grouping of the most advanced economies on the planet fails to take conclusive steps to bridge the gap between rich and poor," said Oxfam, who claims that the richest role of influencing policy development at national or even international level.

Global inequalities

According to his calculations, based on Forbes' World's Billionaires (2018), 926 billionaires lived in the G7 countries in 2018, or 40% of the world total.

"Globalization is bringing to light a global social system that did not exist before and which, because the world is globalized, reveals huge gaps," says Bertrand Badie. "There is the issue of inequality within each of the states of the world, but what the G7 must seize is the issue of global inequality," he says, saying that these global inequalities constitute the main contemporary issue of international relations.

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"This is why, in a fragile and questionable way, the French presidency has invited a number of developing countries to attend the G7 summit," he added, referring to the eight non-member states. G7 guests, in an unprecedented way, at the top of Biarritz.

Eight States, including five African countries. South Africa, Australia, Burkina Faso, Chile, Egypt, India, Senegal and Rwanda were invited by France to participate in the G7. "It is by working with all that the G7 will fight against inequalities!" Tweeted France G7 on its official account.

⌛J-5

The # G7Biarritz begins this Saturday in a renewed format and with the unprecedented participation of the leaders of 8 invited countries and several heads of international organizations.

It is by working with all that # G7France will fight against inequalities! pic.twitter.com/kKSSWflcxF

Abolish discriminatory measures against women

Among the inequalities in question, in addition to those between the richest and the poorest, there are inequalities between the sexes. When reading the figures from the McKinsey Global Institute (2019), used in the Oxfam document, it appears that, although the pay gap between women and men has been closing since 2000, in 2017, women in G7 countries still earned on average 14% less than men.

Resuming studies done by Living Wage Foundation, but also by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Oxfam recalls in its paper "The Seven Deadly Sins of the G7," that in the UK, nearly a third of employed women receive a salary that does not allow them to have a decent standard of living.

In continuity with the Canadian # G7 of 2018, @EmmanuelMacron focuses on gender inequalities for the Biarritz summit. Here are our solutions to join the gesture to speech #TimeToBeBrave https://t.co/lerDC2o8Ck pic.twitter.com/vvU1ZRzziZ

In France, too, women are overrepresented in the most precarious and low-paid jobs and account for three-quarters of part-time jobs. In Italy, 33% of women hold this type of position, compared to only 9% of men.

In Japan, more than one million women left their jobs to educate children in 2017, for only 13,000 men, and in the United States, because of the lack of legislation governing this area, it is particularly difficult for both parents to lead pregnancy and work together since it is one of the only countries in the world that does not have paid parental leave for employees.

Also, in its report, published prior to the G7 summit, the Consultative Council for Equality between Women and Men, established under the Canadian presidency, calls on states to "guarantee the necessary funding for the implementation of the laws". and to follow up on a regular basis, as well as to abolish discriminatory measures against women who persist. "

I am pleased that the Advisory Council on Gender Equality, launched during our presidency of the # G7, is back this year. Congratulations to France and @emmanuelmacron, and thanks to the members for the report. I look forward to discussing your recommendations. https://t.co/P8AzeJ3XmX

Climate Justice

Although biodiversity and the fight against global warming have become unavoidable subjects, France does not foresee major declarations on the climate. Emmanuel Macron has launched a call on his Twitter account to discuss the fires ravaging the Amazon rainforest. "G-7 members, go in two days to talk about this emergency," he said.

The countries present should also sign the biodiversity charter, unveiled at the G7 meeting of environment ministers, in early May. Charter that contains no binding commitment.

The climate crisis has a place of choice in the problem of global inequalities. Indeed, six of the seven countries that will be represented in Biarritz (with the exception of Italy) are, according to the Carbon Brief website, designed to improve the understanding of climate change, of the ten countries that emit the most CO².

"It is obvious that the main victims of the climate crisis and greenhouse gases are the poorest countries," says Bertrand Badie, for whom it represents a real and significant face of inequality. "All the more important as obviously, the moment when these guilty emissions occur in greater quantity, it is in the active phases of development and industrialization," he adds. "The richest countries have come out of this phase, the others have not come in. We can therefore consider that they already have a handicap compared to the rich countries and that they pay this handicap by having to bear, by elsewhere, overconsumption of fossil fuels as it is done in the richest countries. "

In 2015, an Oxfam report, on extreme inequality and CO² emissions, already stated that almost half of global emissions from consumption can be attributed to the 10% of the richest people in the world. Of these emissions, 77% are generated by the richest 10% of G7 countries, with the poorest half of humanity being responsible for only 10% of emissions globally.

"Even though they are the least contributing to climate change, the poorest people are the most exposed to extreme and unpredictable weather events," said Ofxam.

With AFP