G-8 Summit

The G-8 Summit was held on May 18-19, 2012, at Camp David, USA. This is the first G8 summit which the Russian head of state Vladimir Putin did not attend. Dmitry Medvedev, the Prime Minister of Russia attended instead.

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.
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”.

The agenda for the 38th G-8 summit included some issues which remain unresolved from previous summits. For example, leaders at the G8 Summit in L’Aquila supported post-2012 plans for accelerating emissions reductions in aviation. Other issues were the effort to tackle a global hunger crisis and the European sovereign debt crisis, particularly following the fall of talks to form a Greek government following an election.

In its declaration the G-8 agreed “that all of our governments need to take actions to boost confidence and nurture recovery including reforms to raise productivity, growth and demand within a sustainable, credible and non-inflationary macroeconomic framework. We commit to fiscal responsibility and, in this context, we support sound and sustainable fiscal consolidation policies that take into account countries' evolving economic conditions and underpin confidence and economic recovery.”

The G-8 leaders also stated in the declaration that they agreed on the importance of a strong and cohesive euro-zone for global stability and recovery, and affirmed their interest in Greece remaining in the euro-zone while respecting its commitments. However, disagreement over economic growth favoured by France’s President François Hollande and fiscal responsibility favoured by Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel also reflected in the G-8 summit declaration where the G-8 members stated, “The global economic recovery shows signs of promise, but significant headwinds persist. Against this background, we commit to take all necessary steps to strengthen and reinvigorate our economies and combat financial stresses, recognizing that the right measures are not the same for each of us.”

The G-8 leaders also discussed the nuclear program of Iran, North Korea's nuclear ambitions and the violent internal conflict in Syria. They agreed that Iran must prove that its nuclear programme is peaceful and that North Korea will be further isolated if it “continues down the path of provocation”. There was consensus among the G-8 that the Kofi Annan peace plan for Syria must be fully implemented.

The G8 also discussed the political transition in Burma. In this context President Obama said: “On a brighter note, we had the opportunity to discuss Burma, and all of us are hopeful that the political process and transition and transformation that is beginning to take place there takes root.”

The G-8 States also committed themselves to a New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition with African leaders and the private sector whose target it is to lift 50 million people from poverty within 10 years.