Social Europe

  • EU Forward Project
  • YouTube
  • Podcast
  • Books
  • Newsletter
  • Membership

The G7’s role in the world

Jayati Ghosh 21st June 2021

Jayati Ghosh unpicks the G7 summit in England and finds an anachronistic coalition failing to meet global responsibilities.

What exactly does the G7 want?

G7,Cornwall
Jayati Ghosh

On the surface that should be evident: the informal political forum, consisting of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States, clearly sees itself as the unofficial leader of the world. According to the website of the UK presidency of the G7, it is ‘the only forum where the world’s most influential and open societies and advanced economies are brought together for close-knit discussion’.

And there is no dearth of self-congratulation in this regard. The website proudly declares:

In past years the G7 has taken action to strengthen the global economy and combat tax evasion, save 27 million lives from AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, and supported the education of millions of children in the poorest countries. In 2015 its members led the way in helping secure the historic Paris Climate Agreement to limit global emissions.

In terms of policy priorities, its goals apparently are: ‘leading the global recovery from coronavirus while strengthening our resilience against future pandemics; promoting our future prosperity by championing free and fair trade; tackling climate change and preserving the planet’s biodiversity, [and] championing our share values’ of pluralism and representative government.



Don't miss out on cutting-edge thinking.


Join tens of thousands of informed readers and stay ahead with our insightful content. It's free.



Obviously, there is much to question here—beginning with the anachronistic nature of this grouping as self-proclaimed leader of a much more complicated and multipolar world, with many more important players. The fact that the group continues to meet, even though the G20 was formed in 1999 to include Russia, China and several other large developing countries, is a clear sign that the club of rich countries has specific interests it wishes to press.

Hugely influential

Yet, whatever we may think of the grandiose claims of the G7 and its inherent lack of global legitimacy, there is no doubt that it is hugely influential and must be taken seriously. These countries still do play a crucial role in determining the nature and direction of global politics and the international economy.

This is why the Cornwall summit of the G7 earlier this month was more than just disappointing. It was alarming even, given the clearly misplaced priorities which appear to have taken hold of these leaders.

The world is directly facing multiple crises: the pandemic, which continues to rage in successive waves across much of the globe; the economic devastation which Covid-19 has wrought; the looming external-debt concerns, which are increasing likely to explode in the near future, and the climate changes, already upon us, requiring major investments in mitigation and adaptation. All require urgent attention and a major change in policy orientation. Yet despite the usual high-sounding verbiage of the official communiqué, there was no real sense of urgency, since nothing significant was decided on any of these issues.

Instead, much of the time at the summit was apparently devoted to bashing China and wondering how to contain the threat it poses to G7 supremacy. This is both foolish and contradictory, as these multiple crises cannot be resolved without global co-operation, and China must be a critical player in any such co-operation.

Ending the pandemic

Consider the goal of ending the pandemic. Individual G7 countries have already disgraced themselves by grabbing Covid-19 vaccines well beyond their own requirement—sometimes many multiples of their population. Now they announce that they will donate some (not even all!) of their surplus stocks to other countries, which they had deprived of access.

Yet even the promised total of one billion doses is pitifully short of what is needed. And there was clearly no common resolution to stop opposing the intellectual-property-rights waiver in the World Trade Organization or to push domestic pharmaceutical companies to share technology.

Meanwhile, China remains by far the largest producer of Covid-19 vaccines, and more than half the vaccines administered in the world so far are Chinese. China has provided more than 350 million doses to other countries, in the form of aid in more than 80 countries and vaccine exports to more than 40.

Obviously, any global effort to ensure universal vaccination against Covid-19 has to include China. It also has to include Russia, which will export 250 million doses of Sputnik-V to around 30 countries this year. If the G7 countries persist in an approach which privileges the private profit of their pharmaceutical companies over the common good, the rest of the world will inevitably look elsewhere for support.

‘Green’ investment

Similarly, the aim of global recovery and increased investment for ‘green’ purposes clearly requires international co-operation. Yet here, instead of taking effective measures to increase fiscal space in the developing world—such as some serious and meaningful debt relief—the only thing the G7 could offer was an almost embarrassing attempt to counter China’s Belt and Road Initiative with its own (poorly funded) ‘Green’ Belt and Road plan to finance investments that would reduce carbon emissions.

Quite apart from the laughable inability even to think up a distinct name for this project, this carries no credibility at all, because the pre-existing target from the 2009 climate conference in Copenhagen—that the developed countries provide $100 billion per year by 2020 to help poor countries support green growth—has not been met or even seriously assayed.

Once again, the focus is off: it seems more about countering China than really doing anything to help the rest of the world. As long as this continues, there is little hope that the much-needed international co-operation crucial to meeting humanity’s needs will come about—or even that the G7 will meet its own aim, of staying relevant.

This article is a joint publication by Social Europe and IPS-Journal

Jayati Ghosh
Jayati Ghosh

Jayati Ghosh, professor of economics at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, is a member of the Club of Rome’s Transformational Economics Commission and co-chair of the Independent Commission for the Reform of International Corporate Taxation.

Harvard University Press Advertisement

Social Europe Ad - Promoting European social policies

We need your help.

Support Social Europe for less than €5 per month and help keep our content freely accessible to everyone. Your support empowers independent publishing and drives the conversations that matter. Thank you very much!

Social Europe Membership

Click here to become a member

Most Recent Articles

u421983d2 3 The EU’s Landmark Mercosur Deal Promises Much But Delivers LittleSimela Papatheophilou, Werner Raza and Bernhard Tröster
u4219834af 1 Will Denmark Lead Europe Towards a Super-Rich Tax?Isabelle Brachet
611e8de7e149c8763c9d58fc537549c18d20044a0abfeadd41919a1a731b6e64 Britain Rediscovers Europe as Macron and Merz Lead a Democratic ReawakeningPolly Toynbee
u42198346b1 1 Europe’s Appeasement Dilemma: The Price of Standing Against PutinFrank Hoffer

Most Popular Articles

u4219834676 bcba 6b2b3e733ce2 1 The End of an Era: What’s Next After Globalisation?Apostolos Thomadakis
u4219834675 4ff1 998a 404323c89144 1 Why Progressive Governments Keep Failing — And How to Finally Win Back VotersMariana Mazzucato
09d21a9 The Future of Social Democracy: How the German SPD can Win AgainHenning Meyer
u421983462 041df6feef0a 3 Universities Under Siege: A Global Reckoning for Higher EducationManuel Muñiz

S&D Group in the European Parliament advertisement

Cohesion Policy

S&D Position Paper on Cohesion Policy post-2027: a resilient future for European territorial equity

Cohesion Policy aims to promote harmonious development and reduce economic, social and territorial disparities between the regions of the Union, and the backwardness of the least favoured regions with a particular focus on rural areas, areas affected by industrial transition and regions suffering from severe and permanent natural or demographic handicaps, such as outermost regions, regions with very low population density, islands, cross-border and mountain regions.

READ THE FULL POSITION PAPER HERE

ETUI advertisement

HESA Magazine Cover

With a comprehensive set of relevant indicators, presented in 85 graphs and tables, the 2025 Benchmarking Working Europe report examines how EU policies can reconcile economic, social and environmental goals to ensure long-term competitiveness. Considered a key reference, this publication is an invaluable resource for supporting European social dialogue.

DOWNLOAD HERE

Eurofound advertisement

Ageing workforce
The evolution of working conditions in Europe

This episode of Eurofound Talks examines the evolving landscape of European working conditions, situated at the nexus of profound technological transformation.

Mary McCaughey speaks with Barbara Gerstenberger, Eurofound's Head of Unit for Working Life, who leverages insights from the 35-year history of the European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS).

Listen to the episode for free. Also make sure to subscribe to Eurofound Talks so you don’t miss an episode!

LISTEN NOW

Foundation for European Progressive Studies Advertisement

Spring Issues

The Summer issue of The Progressive Post is out!


It is time to take action and to forge a path towards a Socialist renewal.


European Socialists struggle to balance their responsibilities with the need to take bold positions and actions in the face of many major crises, while far-right political parties are increasingly gaining ground. Against this background, we offer European progressive forces food for thought on projecting themselves into the future.


Among this issue’s highlights, we discuss the transformative power of European Social Democracy, examine the far right’s efforts to redesign education systems to serve its own political agenda and highlight the growing threat of anti-gender movements to LGBTIQ+ rights – among other pressing topics.

READ THE MAGAZINE

Hans Böckler Stiftung Advertisement

WSI Report

WSI Minimum Wage Report 2025

The trend towards significant nominal minimum wage increases is continuing this year. In view of falling inflation rates, this translates into a sizeable increase in purchasing power for minimum wage earners in most European countries. The background to this is the implementation of the European Minimum Wage Directive, which has led to a reorientation of minimum wage policy in many countries and is thus boosting the dynamics of minimum wages. Most EU countries are now following the reference values for adequate minimum wages enshrined in the directive, which are 60% of the median wage or 50 % of the average wage. However, for Germany, a structural increase is still necessary to make progress towards an adequate minimum wage.

DOWNLOAD HERE

Social Europe

Our Mission

Team

Article Submission

Advertisements

Membership

Social Europe Archives

Themes Archive

Politics Archive

Economy Archive

Society Archive

Ecology Archive

Miscellaneous

RSS Feed

Legal Disclosure

Privacy Policy

Copyright

Social Europe ISSN 2628-7641

BlueskyXWhatsApp