Lately, the strengthening of ties and distances between countries were responsible for the conception of a broad common political agenda. Thus, issues of an international order emerged that could affect several countries at the same time. Noting such a shift in the panorama of contemporary political relations, French President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing had the idea of bringing together the heads of state of nations more economically influential.
The meeting held in 1975 ended up yielding good results and, with that, stipulated the periodic meeting of these most important nations. Over time, the members of this summit became known as the G8 and, today, have the participation of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, United Kingdom and States United. At the same time, the current G8 summit also makes room for a representative of the European Union.
Despite the relevance of the meeting, the G8 meeting intends to create an informal setting in which these important political representatives can discuss the most relevant issues. Increasingly, global demands are increasing and, therefore, the meeting's agenda is prepared in advance so that the themes with the greatest impact are not simply ignored.
Between the 8th and 10th of July 2009, the G8 summit will meet once again in the Italian city of L’Aquila. This is not the first time that the G8 meets on Italian territory, the first opportunity being in 1980, in the city of Venice. At the upcoming meeting, the members of the G8 have a very extensive agenda for the hectic moment experienced on the international scene.
In the political field, the members intend to discuss the recent military coup that took place in Honduras and the disturbances caused by the result of the Iranian electoral process. Furthermore, another matter of great concern involves the recent war tests that took place in North Korea and the violent unrest of a political-religious nature that took place in China.
Food security is also a key point to be discussed at this new meeting. Currently, even with the achievement of records in grain production, the problem of hunger is becoming increasingly alarming. Encouraging birth control programs, new models for distributing agricultural production and providing emergency aid to the countries most in need will be crucial points in this round of debates.
Another old and still important theme to be reflected on at the G8 revolves around the emergence of the environmental issue. Since the signing of the Kyoto Protocol, several goals are regularly discussed with the countries involved in the signing of this important environmental treaty. The reduction of CO2 emission rates is an essential point so that global warming and other natural catastrophes are avoided. However, some countries are not proactive in the search for answers to the problem.
Usually, the G8 meetings have a series of protests in which non-governmental organizations and other movements criticize the role played by this summit. Despite the relevance of everything that will be debated in L'Aquila, several intellectuals and specialists warn that measures of greater effect must be taken so that the objectives come out of the paper. Undoubtedly, rethinking the development model of nations has become something inevitable in recent decades.
By Rainer Sousa
Graduated in History
Brazil School Team
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General geography - geography - Brazil School
Would you like to reference this text in a school or academic work? Look:
SOUSA, Rainer Gonçalves. "G8 – The Meeting in L’Aquila"; Brazil School. Available in: https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/geografia/g8reuniao-laquila.htm. Accessed on June 28, 2021.
