The meeting is gaining importance, especially this year
Ukraine, hunger and global warming issues dominate the G7 summit in Germany
Zelensky will attend the G7 summit in order to gain support for Ukraine.
AFP
Pollution in India and China is among the topics at the summit.
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This year's G7 summit revolves around major crises, from the Ukraine war to the hunger crises to global warming.
The expectations at the meeting of the heads of state and government of the group, in Elmau, Bavaria, are as great as the problems that will be discussed.
Germany will host the summit from June 26 to 28 at the Elmau Palace, in which, along with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, leaders of the countries and governments of the rest of the group, France, Italy, Japan, Canada, the United States and Britain, will participate.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will also participate in the summit, as will the leaders of India, South Africa, Senegal, Indonesia and Argentina.
The importance of the summit
With its attack on Ukraine, Russia isolated itself somewhat internationally.
This makes cooperation at the international level more difficult, not only at the United Nations.
Hence the G7 becomes even more important, as the summit could set crucial guidelines for the G-20 summit and the next United Nations climate conference, both of which will take place in November.
“The G7 is probably the only multilateral, transregional forum still capable of dealing with the war in Ukraine,” says Friedrich Meister, director of Global Citizen in Germany, an organization working to combat extreme poverty. It is gaining importance, especially this year, and also as an alliance of the most important donor countries.”
Otmar Edenhofer, director of the German Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, says that unlike major international climate conferences, the G7 is “a relatively limited form in which the most economically important countries, as well as many high-emitting countries, are grouped ... This makes The G7 is a good place to make courageous decisions about more climate protection because it can, and because those decisions have global implications.”
food crisis
For too long the international community has made progress in the fight against hunger.
But the climate crisis, the Corona pandemic and conflicts have had dire consequences for the crisis.
According to the World Food Program, 50 million people are on the brink of starvation.
The United Nations estimates the situation in Ethiopia, Nigeria, South Sudan, Yemen, Afghanistan and Somalia as catastrophic, and says that 750,000 people in particularly affected countries are at risk of starvation.
The war in Ukraine, the coronavirus pandemic and climate changes associated with drought are exacerbating the situation.
Food prices are on the rise.
Ironically, Ukraine and Russia are the world's largest wheat exporters, and they usually cover about a third of global demand.
According to the United Nations, 1.4 billion people around the world could face food shortages, as Russia closes Ukrainian ports, thus preventing the export of agricultural products through the Black Sea.
Fight against hunger
■ Alliance for World Food Security
This alliance was formed last May by the G7 development ministers in cooperation with the World Bank in response to the fallout from the war in Ukraine.
Fiona Ohlendahl, an expert at the World Vision development organization in Germany, complains that “it is not entirely clear yet how this alliance will behave in a specific way,” and says: “What will the implementation be specifically, and what will the financial pillar look like? She stressed the need to involve civil society and poor countries in particular, which are the most affected by the ongoing food shortage.
■ money
According to Global Citizen, several billion more dollars must be made available in the short term to combat the hunger crisis.
"This must be followed by more long-term investments to enhance global food security," Meister demands.
■ Reorganization of food systems
“Emergency aid alone is not enough to end this crisis,” Olendal says. “Small farmers in the global south must be supported more, and they must be given equitable access to markets,” explaining that this would also reduce dependence on major exporters.
climate crisis
According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, global emissions of greenhouse gases between 2010 and 2019 were higher than at any time in human history.
Without immediate emissions cuts, the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels will no longer be met.
The World Meteorological Organization warns that the world's average annual temperature may exceed 1.5 degrees for the first time by 2026. According to the United Nations Drought Report, the number and duration of droughts have already increased by 29% globally since 2000. .
Climate protection demands
■ Climate Club
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced last January his intention to use Germany's presidency of the Group of Seven to make the group the core of an international climate club, stressing the need for a "paradigm shift" in international climate policy, and said: "Not by waiting for the slowest and least ambitious, but by Set a good example,” he said, adding that climate activists now want to see these words filled with life, translated into concrete decisions.
In the best cases, climate economist Edenhofer said, the United States, China and the European Union would be represented in this club, and internationally harmonized prices for carbon dioxide emissions, for example, could be implemented, ie a tax that makes greenhouse gas emissions more expensive.
■ money
The industrialized nations pledged to support nations particularly affected by climate change with $100 billion annually.
Meister, of Global Citizen, is calling for that promise to be fulfilled.
■ Phasing out of fossil fuels
Greenpeace calls for ending the use of fossil natural gas by 2035 and coal by 2030, and relying on 100% renewable energy sources to generate electricity by 2035.
The impact of the Ukraine war at the top
“There is a concern about giving less space to issues of development policies,” says Meister, explaining that making the world better and more just is not decided only by the question of war or peace. “We see how hunger in the world is linked to the war in Ukraine and also to the climate crisis.”
Funds for other crises
“We are very concerned about the tendency of some donor countries to reallocate emergency aid funds to the Ukraine crisis rather than to ongoing emergencies, such as those in Syria, Afghanistan or Ethiopia,” says Marvin Meyer of World Vision. It has been successful in a very short time, raising more than 60% of the requested funds compared to raising an average of 18% of the demands of other emergency financing plans,” she said, adding that the G7 would have to increase its aid commitments as needed.
climate protection
Gas prices are rising faster than coal prices, says climate economist Edenhofer, and “as a result the world is building coal-fired power plants again.
In light of the climate risks, we should not do that.”
world food supply
Edenhofer says that Ukrainian wheat exports are declining, along with speculation in food, which is leading to hunger crises in North Africa in particular. It will be a sustainable agricultural policy.”
According to the United Nations, 1.4 billion people worldwide may face food shortages.
According to the World Food Program, 50 million people are on the brink of starvation. The United Nations estimates the situation in Ethiopia, Nigeria, South Sudan, Yemen, Afghanistan and Somalia as catastrophic, and says 750,000 people in particularly affected countries are at risk of starvation.
The G7 is perhaps the only multilateral, transregional forum still capable of dealing with the war in Ukraine.
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