G7 Summit 2022: Why is Germany holding the G7 Presidency?

Created: 05/30/2022, 12:24 p.m

By: Bettina Menzel

The G7 meeting of the seven most important industrial nations in the world took place in Germany in 2022.

But why actually?

© picture alliance/dpa |

Kay Nietfeld

Germany will chair the G7 summit in 2022.

But why exactly - and what does that mean exactly?

Elmau – The G7 Summit 2022 will take place from June 26th to 28th under high security conditions at Schloss Elmau in Germany.

The summit gains even more significance given the current challenges in the world and in Europe, such as the Ukraine conflict.

But why is the Federal Republic taking over the G7 presidency this year and what tasks and advantages does this entail?

G7 summit in Germany: This is the "Group of Seven" - and that's why China isn't there

According to their own definition, the seven leading industrial nations and democracies in the world take part in the G7 summit.

The Group of Seven (G7) includes Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Great Britain and the United States.

The European Commission has also been invited to G7 meetings.

Although China is the second largest economy in the world in terms of GDP, the People's Republic lacks the democratic aspect due to its totalitarian leadership.

The summit looks back on almost 50 years of history: the G7 has existed since 1975 - initially without Canada.

At times, the group of seven was even expanded by one member.

In 1998, the G7 absorbed Russia, becoming the G8.

However, after the annexation of Crimea in March 2014, the original members expelled the Russian Federation again, so that the G7 format has since returned.

The G8 met in 2012 under the US Presidency at Camp David, the US President's summer residence.

© IMAGO / Everett Collection

G7 summit in Elmau: That's why Germany holds the presidency in 2022

The G7 summit takes place annually.

It is not an international organization but an informal forum or network.

Therefore there is no board of directors, no statutes, no formal resolutions and also no permanent representation of the G7 members.

The role of the respective country holding the presidency is therefore all the more important.

Every year a different country takes over the presidency and thus the organization.

In 2022, this role will fall to Germany, which will thus have the advantage of being able to determine the agenda of the summit.

The summit last took place in Germany seven years ago and will not be held again in Germany until 2029.

When the Federal Republic took over the presidency on January 1, 2022, it set itself the goal of "Progress for a just world".

They also want to "strengthen the role of the G7 as bridge builders and mediators for peace and security," the agenda said.

“We will use our G7 presidency to ensure that this group of states becomes a pioneer.

To be a pioneer for climate-neutral business and a just world,” said Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz on taking over the G7 presidency.

Shortly thereafter, on February 24, Russia attacked Ukraine.

The fight for peace and security thus became a real scenario in Europe - and even more important than before.

also read

Putin seriously ill?

Lavrov comments on rumors

"Devastating Losses" Among Putin's Officers?

Secret service also provides possible reasons

Germany's G7 program: "Progress for a just world" - These are the five fields of action

• Creating a sustainable planet

  : The G7 wants to find strong allies in a pioneering role and thus work for climate protection, the environment and biodiversity.

  She also wants to accelerate the global energy transition in this way.

  Germany proposes founding a "climate club" to advance international climate protection.

• Economic stability and transformation

  : From Germany's point of view, socially just and ecological transformation and economic prosperity are not a contradiction in terms, according to the agenda.

  The course should be set for a sustainable future, and the focus should also be placed on a sustainable economic recovery.

• Healthy living:

  Germany sees itself as a pioneer when it comes to fighting the pandemic - the same applies to pandemic prevention.

  The Federal Republic also wants an “improved international health architecture”.

  It is also about increasing the vaccination rate against Corona worldwide.

• Investing in a better future:

  During its presidency, the Federal Republic of Germany set itself the goal of further advancing international cooperation for sustainable development in line with the 2030 Agenda.

• Strong cooperation:

  During the German presidency, the focus should be on a strong commitment to social justice, equality and inclusive digitization.

G7 summit in Germany: Germany has held the presidency so many times

Germany has already assumed the G7 presidency a total of seven times.

Since Russia was a member for a time, the seven-year cycle of the presidency was changed to an eight-year cycle.

Currently, each member country holds the presidency again every seven years.

In 2023, Japan will take over this role.

The G7 summit took place both in 2015 and 2022 under the German presidency at Schloss Elmau in Bavaria.

© IMAGO/Peter Widmann

G7 summit in Germany: These are the results so far in 2022

In the run-up to the actual summit, specialist meetings of the ministers usually take place.

However, the format of the two-day meeting of G7 energy, climate and environment ministers was a first.

The aim of the German hosts was to deal with the climate crisis and the energy crisis together.

The final declaration of the seven large western industrialized countries is about phasing out fossil fuels that are harmful to the climate.

At their meeting on May 25-27, the energy, climate and environment ministers of the G7 group agreed on a commitment to ending coal-fired power generation.

However, the explanation remained vague as far as specific periods of time are concerned.

It was only said that the power supply should be "predominantly" decarbonized - i.e. CO2-free - by 2035.

There was no target date for the intended end of climate-damaging coal-fired power generation.

In the future, less CO2 will also be produced in road traffic - through the use of emission-free vehicles.

Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck (Greens) described the resolutions as a "strong signal for more climate protection".

At the same time, with a view to ongoing global warming, he conceded: "What we are doing is not enough."

G7 summit in Elmau: Criticism and reactions to the final declaration of the energy, climate and environment ministers

Environmental organizations were mostly positive about the climate results of the G7 summit in 2022 under the German presidency.

Greenpeace spoke of an "important step towards global climate protection".

Germanwatch praised the "gratifyingly clear response to the energy crisis triggered by the Russian war of aggression".

The Compact group remarked: "The direction of the G7 is right, the pace is not." However, the climate researcher Mojib Latif criticized the lack of a specific date in the final declaration, as reported by

.

One must at least commit to specific dates and corresponding sanction mechanisms, Latif demanded and added: "An agreement is worth nothing if you can't sue for anything."

So far, the criticism has been milder than in the previous year, when Great Britain chaired the G7 summit.

Development organizations did not go far enough at the time.

In 2021, for example, they criticized that too little was being done for the vaccination campaign in the poorer countries of the world.

Oxfam International's Jörn Kalinski called the decision a "huge disappointment." In his view, "the gap between what the world needs and what was decided" was never so great in history.

However, a final verdict is premature.

It remains to be seen what the final decisions of this year's G7 summit on June 26-28 in Elmau Castle will be.