What you need to know about the G7 Summit and why it is important

Every year, when leaders of major industrialized nations gather for a summit, the same questions arise:

¿what exactly is it for the summit and why is the group important?

The heads of state of the Group of Seven (Great Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States) began their annual summit Thursday at a luxury hotel in Puglia, on Italy’s southern coast, overlooking the Adriatic Sea.

The wars in Ukraine and the Gaza Strip and the threats posed by China’s economic rise are high on the agenda.

The leaders, together with representatives of the European Union and selected guests, meet to discuss important international economic and political issues.

This year, the host of the summit, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni of Italy, also invited other figures, including the Pope Francisco and the Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India.

Whatever the leaders’ disagreements on the issues, a feature of summits tends to be a shared general perspective.

Their countries are important trading partners and, although their share of global trade has declined, they represent approximately half of the world economy.

They also share very similar views on trade, security and human rights, giving them enormous influence when acting in concert.

A recent example of this is the war in Ukraine.

President Volodymyr Zelenskywhose defense against the Russian invasion of his country has been a rallying point for the G7, will attend again this year.

Likewise, the president Vladimir Putin from Russia is one of the most notable absentees from the group. Russia was a member of the group from 1997 until it was excluded in 2014, the year its forces entered eastern Ukraine and seized Crimea.

The group’s origins date back to the 1973 oil crisis.

It arose from an informal meeting of finance ministers from Great Britain, France, Japan, the United States and what was then West Germany – initially known as the Big Five– as they tried to agree on a way forward.

Since then, the group and its added members have met dozens of times to work on important issues affecting the international economy, security, trade, equality and climate change.

In 2015, the summit paved the way for the Paris Agreement to limit global carbon emissions, which was adopted that same year.

Summits are often defined by the most pressing issues of the day: the 9/11 attacks on the United States in 2001, the 2008 financial crisis and the coronavirus pandemic that began in 2019 have dominated the meetings.

They are also a showcase of cultural diplomacy, as each year the host country offers examples of the best of its cuisine.

Yet for all the aura of diplomacy at the summit, each leader also has an eye on domestic politics.

A leader fresh off an electoral victory can sometimes arrive with arrogance.

For a leader about to face an angry electorate, the opposite may be true.

Several of the leaders in Italy this week are in the latter category.

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