38th G8 summit
Encyclopedia
The 38th G8 summit is to be held in Chicago
, Illinois, United States
on May 15-22, 2012. The locations of previous G8 summits which were hosted by the U.S. include San Juan
(1976); Williamsburg
(1983); Houston
(1990); Denver
(1997); and Sea Island
(2004).
, Germany
, Italy
, Japan
, the United Kingdom
and the United States
. This select few became the Group of Seven (G7) starting in 1976 when Canada
joined. The Group of Eight was formed with the addition of Russia
in 1997. In addition, the President of the European Commission
has been formally included in summits since 1981. The summits were not meant to be linked formally with wider international institutions; and in fact, a mild rebellion against the stiff formality of other international meetings was a part of the genesis of cooperation between France's President Giscard d'Estaing and West Germany's Chancellor Helmut Schmidt
as they conceived the initial summit
of the |Group of Six in 1975.
The G8 summits during the 21st century have inspired widespread debates, protests and demonstrations; and the two- or three-day event becomes more than the sum of its parts, elevating the participants, the issues and the venue as focal points for activist pressure.
The current form of the G8 is being evaluated. Some reports attribute resistance to the relatively smaller powers such as Canada and Japan, who are said to perceive a dilution of their global stature. Alternately, a larger forum for global governance may be more reflective of the present multi-polar world.
The forum is in a process of transformation by expanded membership and by other changes.
, and these are:
Food security is anticipated as a priority with thematic follow-through in G8, G20 and other international venues. As context, the emphasis on agriculture and food security at the L’Aquila summit resulted in pledges; and these pledges included multi-year follow-up by G8 members,
In 2010, France announced plans to "prepare far upstream" for African outreach, and this may cause ramifications to unfold in 2012.
supported post-2012 plans for accelerating emissions reductions in aviation. This was construed in the context of a post-2012 framework on climate change which had been adopted at the Toyako summit
in 2008.
In 2010, strategic plans for lobbying summit organizers are tentatively in place. The Americans are challenged to deliver a "workmanlike summits that include China, India and other emerging powers as full partners."
centers to provide independent media coverage of the G8 summit and the expected protests.
The G8 summit brings leaders together not so they can dream up quick fixes, but to talk and think about them together. and the international media is expected to focus on questions about what the summit does manage to accomplish.
(ICA
) was established at the 31st G8 summit
at Gleneagles, Scotland
in the United Kingdom
in 2005. Since that time, the ICA’s annual meeting is traditionally hosted by the country holding the chairmanship of the G8—in 2012, the United States.
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, Illinois, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
on May 15-22, 2012. The locations of previous G8 summits which were hosted by the U.S. include San Juan
2nd G7 summit
The 2nd G7 Summit was held at Dorado, Puerto Rico between June 27 and 28, 1976. The venue for the summit meetings was the Dorado Beach Resort, which is near San Juan, Puerto Rico....
(1976); Williamsburg
9th G7 Summit
The 9th G7 Summit was held at Williamsburg, Virginia, United States during the 28th to 30th of May 1983. The venue for the summit meetings was Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia....
(1983); Houston
16th G7 summit
The 16th G7 Summit was held at Houston, Texas, United States between July 9 and 11, 1990. The venue for the summit meetings was the campus of Rice University and other locations nearby in the Houston Museum District....
(1990); Denver
23rd G8 summit
The 23rd G8 summit was held from June 20 to 22, 1997 in Denver, Colorado, United States. The venue was the newly constructed Denver Public Library in downtown Denver...
(1997); and Sea Island
30th G8 summit
The 30th G8 summit took place in Sea Island, Georgia, United States, on June 8 – June 10, 2004.-Overview:The Group of Seven was an unofficial forum which brought together the heads of the richest industrialized countries: France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States and...
(2004).
Overview
The Group of Six (G6) was an unofficial forum which brought together the heads of the richest industrialized countries: FranceFrance
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. This select few became the Group of Seven (G7) starting in 1976 when Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
joined. The Group of Eight was formed with the addition of Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
in 1997. In addition, the President of the European Commission
President of the European Commission
The President of the European Commission is the head of the European Commission ― the executive branch of the :European Union ― the most powerful officeholder in the EU. The President is responsible for allocating portfolios to members of the Commission and can reshuffle or dismiss them if needed...
has been formally included in summits since 1981. The summits were not meant to be linked formally with wider international institutions; and in fact, a mild rebellion against the stiff formality of other international meetings was a part of the genesis of cooperation between France's President Giscard d'Estaing and West Germany's Chancellor Helmut Schmidt
Helmut Schmidt
Helmut Heinrich Waldemar Schmidt is a German Social Democratic politician who served as Chancellor of West Germany from 1974 to 1982. Prior to becoming chancellor, he had served as Minister of Defence and Minister of Finance. He had also served briefly as Minister of Economics and as acting...
as they conceived the initial summit
1st G6 summit
The 1st G6 summit took place on November 15–17, 1975, in Rambouillet, France. The venue for the summit meetings was the Château de Rambouillet near Paris....
of the |Group of Six in 1975.
The G8 summits during the 21st century have inspired widespread debates, protests and demonstrations; and the two- or three-day event becomes more than the sum of its parts, elevating the participants, the issues and the venue as focal points for activist pressure.
The current form of the G8 is being evaluated. Some reports attribute resistance to the relatively smaller powers such as Canada and Japan, who are said to perceive a dilution of their global stature. Alternately, a larger forum for global governance may be more reflective of the present multi-polar world.
The forum is in a process of transformation by expanded membership and by other changes.
Leaders at the summit
The G8 is an unofficial annual forum for the leaders of Canada, the European Commission, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States.Core G8 participants
These summit participants represent the current core members of the international forum:
Canada
Early Modern France
Germany
Italy
Japan
Russia
United Kingdom
United States- European Union
European UnionThe European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
Invited leaders (partial participation)
A number of national leaders are traditionally invited to attend the summit and to participate in some, but not all, G8 summit activities.G8+5 leaders
The G8 plus the five largest emerging economies has come to be known as G8+5G8+5
The G8+5 group of leaders consists of the heads of government from the G8 nations , plus the heads of government of the five leading emerging economies .-February 2007 Declaration:On February 16, 2007, The Global Legislators Organisation The G8+5 group of leaders consists of the heads of government...
, and these are:
Heads of international organizations
Leaders of the major international organizations have also been invited to attend previous summit meetings; including:- African UnionAfrican UnionThe African Union is a union consisting of 54 African states. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established on 9 July 2002, the AU was formed as a successor to the Organisation of African Unity...
Commonwealth of Independent States - International Atomic Energy Agency
International Atomic Energy AgencyThe International Atomic Energy Agency is an international organization that seeks to promote the peaceful use of nuclear energy, and to inhibit its use for any military purpose, including nuclear weapons. The IAEA was established as an autonomous organization on 29 July 1957... - International Energy AgencyInternational Energy AgencyThe International Energy Agency is a Paris-based autonomous intergovernmental organization established in the framework of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development in 1974 in the wake of the 1973 oil crisis...
United Nations - UNESCO
UNESCOThe United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations... - World BankWorld BankThe World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to developing countries for capital programmes.The World Bank's official goal is the reduction of poverty...
- World Health Organization
World Health OrganizationThe World Health Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations that acts as a coordinating authority on international public health. Established on 7 April 1948, with headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, the agency inherited the mandate and resources of its predecessor, the Health... - World Trade OrganizationWorld Trade OrganizationThe World Trade Organization is an organization that intends to supervise and liberalize international trade. The organization officially commenced on January 1, 1995 under the Marrakech Agreement, replacing the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade , which commenced in 1948...
Priorities
Traditionally, the host country of the G8 summit sets the agenda for negotiations, which take place primarily amongst multi-national civil servants known informally as "sherpas". Effective organization at the sherpa level is understood to be essential for the success of a summit meeting.Food security is anticipated as a priority with thematic follow-through in G8, G20 and other international venues. As context, the emphasis on agriculture and food security at the L’Aquila summit resulted in pledges; and these pledges included multi-year follow-up by G8 members,
In 2010, France announced plans to "prepare far upstream" for African outreach, and this may cause ramifications to unfold in 2012.
Issues
The summit was intended as a venue for resolving differences among its members. As a practical matter, the summit was also conceived as an opportunity for its members to give each other mutual encouragement.Schedule and Agenda
A tentative agenda for the 38th G8 summit will include some issues which remain unresolved from previous summits. For example, leaders at the G8 Summit in L’Aquila35th G8 summit
The 35th G8 summit took place in the city of L'Aquila, Abruzzo, on July 8–10, 2009. It was moved from the Sardinian seaside city of La Maddalena as part of an attempt to redistribute disaster funds after the 2009 L'Aquila earthquake.....
supported post-2012 plans for accelerating emissions reductions in aviation. This was construed in the context of a post-2012 framework on climate change which had been adopted at the Toyako summit
34th G8 summit
The 34th G8 summit took place in on the northern island of Hokkaidō, Japan from July 7–9, 2008. The locations of previous summits to have been hosted by Japan include: Tokyo ; and Nago, Okinawa . The G8 Summit has evolved beyond being a gathering of world political leaders...
in 2008.
In 2010, strategic plans for lobbying summit organizers are tentatively in place. The Americans are challenged to deliver a "workmanlike summits that include China, India and other emerging powers as full partners."
Protesters and demonstrations
Protest groups and other activists are expected to make a strong showing at the summit, and these groups are expected to have planned well in advance.Citizen journalism
A range of groups are expected to organize citizen journalismCitizen journalism
Citizen journalism is the concept of members of the public "playing an active role in the process of collecting, reporting, analyzing and disseminating news and information," according to the seminal 2003 report We Media: How Audiences are Shaping the Future of News and Information...
centers to provide independent media coverage of the G8 summit and the expected protests.
Accomplishments
The G8 summit is an international event which is observed and reported by news media, but the G8's continuing relevance is unclear.The G8 summit brings leaders together not so they can dream up quick fixes, but to talk and think about them together. and the international media is expected to focus on questions about what the summit does manage to accomplish.
Infrastructure Consortium for Africa
The Infrastructure Consortium for AfricaInfrastructure Consortium for Africa
The Infrastructure Consortium for Africa is an international organization dedicated to facilitate progress in support of economic growth and development in Africa. ICA was established at the 31st G8 summit at Gleneagles, Scotland in the United Kingdom in 2005. The consortium is composed its...
(ICA
Infrastructure Consortium for Africa
The Infrastructure Consortium for Africa is an international organization dedicated to facilitate progress in support of economic growth and development in Africa. ICA was established at the 31st G8 summit at Gleneagles, Scotland in the United Kingdom in 2005. The consortium is composed its...
) was established at the 31st G8 summit
31st G8 summit
The 31st G8 summit was held from July 6 to July 8, 2005 at the Gleneagles Hotel in Auchterarder, Scotland, United Kingdom and hosted by British Prime Minister Tony Blair...
at Gleneagles, Scotland
Gleneagles, Scotland
Gleneagles is a glen which connects with Glen Devon to form a pass through the Ochil Hills of Perth and Kinross in Scotland...
in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
in 2005. Since that time, the ICA’s annual meeting is traditionally hosted by the country holding the chairmanship of the G8—in 2012, the United States.
Security
Security planning is designed to ensure that the summit's formal agenda can remain the primary focus of the attendees' discussions.Business opportunity
For some, the G8 summit becomes a profit-generating event; as for example, the G8 Summit magazines which have been published under the auspices of the host nations for distribution to all attendees since 1998.See also
- G7
- International Panel on Climate Change
- United Nations Framework Convention on Climate ChangeUnited Nations Framework Convention on Climate ChangeThe United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change is an international environmental treaty produced at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development , informally known as the Earth Summit, held in Rio de Janeiro from June 3 to 14, 1992...
External links
- No official website is created for any G7 summit prior to 1995 -- see the 21st G7 summit.
- University of TorontoUniversity of TorontoThe University of Toronto is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in Upper Canada...
: G8 Research GroupG8 research groupThe G8 Research Groups stated mission is to serve as the world’s leading independent source of information, analysis and research on the institutions, issues and members of the Group of Eight and the G8 Summit....
, G8 Information Centre