G-7 summit in Germany to discuss climate change, energy, COVID
Leaders of rich nations, Narendra Modi, Joko Widodo, others by the heads of the World Bank, IMF, WTO, WHO
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz welcomed the leaders of five top emerging democratic economies and of major international organisations to the Group of Seven (G7) summit on Monday. This year’s event is being held in the Bavarian Alps in Germany.
G-7 leaders plan to discuss a range of key issues with their guests – Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and Presidents Macky Sall of Senegal, Joko Widodo of Indonesia, Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa, and Alberto Fernández of Argentina. Those issues include climate change, energy, health and the COVID pandemic, food security and gender equality. They’re being joined Monday by the heads of the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the World Trade Organisation, the World Health Organisation and others.
Indonesia this year holds the presidency of the larger Group of 20 (G-20) of major economies, which also includes Russia and China. That group faces a potentially awkward summit in Bali in November, in light of the possibility that Russian President Vladimir Putin could attend.
The G-7 leaders are committing themselves to supporting Ukraine for the long haul at their summit, with both immediate help and long-term rebuilding on the agenda. Scholz said ahead of a session with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that the G-7 countries policies on Ukraine are very much aligned, and that they see the need to be both tough and cautions.
Tough decisions
Scholz said after meeting Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Monday, “We are taking tough decisions, that we are also cautious, that we will help … Ukraine as much as possible but that we also avoid that there will be a big conflict between Russia and NATO.”
He added that this is what is of essence — “to be tough and thinking about the necessities of the time we are living in”. The G-7 leaders are to confer by video link with Zelenskyy.
The G-7 economic powers are set to announce an agreement to pursue a price cap on Russian oil, aiming to curb Moscow’s energy revenues, a US official said on Monday. The move is part of a joint effort of support for Ukraine that includes raising tariffs on Russian goods and imposing new sanctions on hundreds of Russian officials and entities supporting the four month long war.
