The G7 summit concluded with a message of unity in the face of the “brutal war” launched by Russia in Ukraine and the “determination to fight against its effects, including the food crisis”, but the proposals of the United States and the United Kingdom to ban trade with Russian gold or to impose a ceiling on the price of oil has not been put on paper. In addition to the difficulties involved in applying these measures, France, Germany and Italy refused to support them without first consulting their EU partners.
The agenda for these three days of summit in southern Germany was ambitious, but the war in Ukraine was the dominant factor in a summit “which was held at very special times”, in the words of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, whose country holds the rotating Presidency of the group made up of the United States, Canada, Japan, the United Kingdom, France and Italy. He was the only president who appeared before the press at the end of the conclave, which will continue, although in NATO format in Madrid.
As concrete results, the final statement includes the G7’s commitment to the reconstruction of Ukraine, “for which a conference of donors and an international reconstruction plan will also be convened, which will be developed and applied by Ukraine in close coordination with international partners.”
Financial support to Ukraine amounts to more than $2.8 billion for humanitarian aid in 2022, and the G7 is ready to provide or has already provided $29.5 billion in the form of budget support.
“We will stand by Ukraine for as long as necessary and will provide financial, humanitarian, military and diplomatic assistance for the courageous defense of its sovereignty and territorial integrity,” said the G7 leaders, reiterating their condemnation of the “illegal and unjustifiable Russian war of aggression”. They also expressed their readiness to reach long-term security commitments with interested countries and institutions in order to “help Ukraine in its self-defense and guarantee its free and democratic future.”
They also reiterated their willingness to maintain and increase more sanctions on Russia to end “an aggression that harms global recovery and leads throughout the world to a dramatic worsening of energy security and access to food.”
In this sense, the G7 remains committed to its “unprecedented coordination on sanctions, for as long as necessary”, acts united at all times and will reduce Russia’s income, also in relation to gold, although without specifying how.
“At a time when the world is threatened by divisions and upheavals, we, the G7, stand united. We underline our determination to stand up with partners for universal human rights and democratic values, the multilateral rule order and the resilience of our societies. democratic”, collects the statement.
The summit also concludes with the creation of the Climate Club, a new intergovernmental forum proposed by Germany with the aim of accelerating the application of measures to curb climate change and with a focus on the industry sector. “We note with concern that at this time neither global climate ambitions nor their implementation are sufficient to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement through the reduction of greenhouse gases,” they said in a statement.
The members of the Climate Club, which will be established before the end of the year, will collaborate to mitigate climate change, in particular by promoting the energy transition and accelerating the coal phase-out process.
Fighting world hunger has also been a priority, as we currently have 345 million people who we know do not have enough to eat. That is four times more than the number (of people) who live in Germany,” added Scholz, not without recalling that many countries in Africa are facing a food crisis that has become “an existential threat” for them, not only because of the effects of the war in Ukraine, but also because of the climate crisis and the coronavirus pandemic.”That is why we also want to act and that is why we have forged a global alliance for food security,” he announced.That alliance will be reinforced with 5,000 million dollars additional, to which another 600,000 will be added in infrastructure investments in middle-income countries and with the aim of counteracting China’s advance in emerging economies.Five of them -India, Indonesia, Senegal, South Africa and Argentina- were represented at the highest level at this summit, during which there was much discussion about the one that will take place in November in Indonesia, as the rotating Presidency of the G20. Indonesia’s invitation to Russian President Vladimir Putin. In the end, and despite the fact that some leaders spoke of a boycott, the decision has been to go all. With this they put Putin between a rock and a hard place, since the Ukrainian president, Vlolodomir Zelensky, was invited.
Regarding the possibility of prohibiting the transport of Russian oil unless its sale respects a maximum price agreed with international partners, he has decided to continue to develop the idea. “On oil, we are considering various options including the possibility of a total ban on services that allow the transport of Russian oil and oil derivatives worldwide,” the joint statement said. That prohibition would not occur, according to the statement, in the event that “oil is purchased at a price agreed with international partners or below it.”
Also, the statement invites other countries to join the measures of the G7 countries and says that the competent ministers have been instructed to continue exploring possibilities to develop alternatives to Russian fossil energy sources.
In the long term, the purpose is to reduce dependence on fossil fuels and accelerate the transition to clean energy to reach zero emissions by 2050. All this while maintaining security of energy supply and offering support to developing countries. development so that they also achieve their transition to clean energy.
In the short term, and with a view to accelerating the elimination of dependence on Russian energy, the statement highlights “the important role that increased deliveries of liquefied natural gas can play and we recognize that investment in this sector is necessary in response to the current crisis”.
“In these exceptional circumstances, publicly supported investment in the gas sector may be appropriate as a temporary response, subject to clearly defined national circumstances,” the statement said. This investment must be made without losing sight of climate objectives and coordinated with the purpose of developing infrastructure for the use of green hydrogen.
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