If you recall the news of May 2016, all newspapers and news channels featured the 42nd G7 summit. You all must be wondering how this will help you in your bank, SSC and other exams. General awareness carries significant weightage in bank, SSC and other exams. National and international events form a part of current affairs.Scoring more in general awareness section gives you an edge over other aspirants.
This post talks about G7 countries and the key agenda of the 42nd G7 summit. After reading this post, you will be able to answer any question based on the 42ndG7 summit.
What is Group of Seven, G7
• The Group of 7 (G7) is a group of seven countries, namely Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The European Union is also a part of the G7.
• Now, you must be wondering, why only these countries are a part of G7? Why not any other country? Let’s discuss what is special about these countries. These countries have advanced economies as reported by the International Monetary Fund.These countries are categories under G7 because they represent
a) more than 64% of the net global wealth
b) 46% of the global GDP (evaluated at market exchange rates)
c) 32% of the global purchasing power parity
• The organization was established with an objective to fine tune and assess short term economic policies among participant countries and to monitor economic developments across the globe. Therefore, G7 can be described as a group of 7 countries with a specific national capacity and willingness to coordinate their policies towards common goals.
Overview of 42nd G7 summit
The 42nd G7 summit was held on May 26 &27, 2016 in Kashiko Island,Japan. The G7 countries emphasized on that the disputes should be settled “peacefully”.
The following were the representatives of G7 countries who attended the 42nd G7 summit:
• Prime Minister Justin Trudeau – Canada
• President Francois Hollande – France
• Chancellor Angela Merkel – Germany
• Prime Minister Matteo Renzi – Italy
• Prime Minister Shinzo Abe – Japan
• Prime Minister David Cameron – United Kingdom
• President Barack Obama – United States
Agenda of 42nd G7 summit
Now let’s read further about the key highlights of the summit.
1. Global economy and trade
At the 42nd G7 summit, the G7 leaders aim to discuss and resolve the challenges hampering the growth of the world economy. The world economy has been sluggish due to slowdowns in emerging markets, weakening trade and a sharp drop in the price of oil. The 42ndG7 summit aims to facilitate global economic growth and to augment the existing economic focus.
2. Foreign policy
At the 42nd G7 summit, the G7 leaders discussed issues pertaining to foreign policy like
a) Anti-terrorism- Measures to reduce extremism which is the main cause of terrorism were put forward on the table. An action plan was formulated to curb terrorism and extremism.
b) Refugee crisis in the Middle East- The G7 leaders agreed to assist in stabilization of the Middle East while dealing with the refugee crisis.
c) The Ukrainian crisis- As a part of the discussion, the G7 leaders sought to encourage Ukraine to abide by comprehensive domestic reforms.
d) North Korea’s nuclear program- The G7 leaders decided to jointly work for problems viz. Nuclear weapons and missiles, faced by North Korea.
e) Territorial disputes in the South China Sea- The G7 leaders expressed concern regarding Maritime Security.
3. Climate change and energy
• The G7 leaders talked about addressing international climate change and signing & implementation of the Paris Agreement.
• Ways to promote energy technology innovations and enhancement of energy resources were the key highlights of the summit.
4. Development
Since this was the first summit after the inception of ‘2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development’, the G7 leaders had a brain storming session on the ‘Sustainable Development Goals’.
5. Quality infrastructure investment
• In the 42nd G7 summit, the leaders agreed upon sharing and promoting basic elements of quality infrastructure investment in the international community. This was one of the priority issues of the summit.
• In order to promote the quality infrastructure development, the G7 leaders decided to effectively communicate the proceeding to the relevant stakeholders, and further encourage them to align their infrastructure investment.
6. Health & women empowerment
The G7 leaders encouraged women empowerment in various domains viz. Education, science and technology. They also laid emphasis on promoting health care across the globe. The G7 leaders discussed measures to strengthen response to widespread epidemics like the Ebola virus epidemic in West Africa.
Now, let us go through previous year and expected questions based on the 42nd G7 summit.
1. Which country hosted the 42nd G7 summit? (UIIC AO)
2. In which year was the 42nd G7 summit held?
3. Is India a part of G7 countries?
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