The G7 summit has wrapped up in Hiroshima, Japan.
As the three-day event ended at the end of the weekend, UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres said that it was time to reform both the security council and Bretton woods to align with the “realities of today’s world”. Guterres argued that the global financial architecture, which he described as “outdated, dysfunctional and unfair”, had failed to fulfill its core function as a global safety net in light of economic shocks from the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The UN secretary-general also said not enough was being done to reform outdated institutions or “remove the frustrations” of the global south. He cited figures from the International Monetary Fund which predict that India’s economy will grow at more than 6 percent this year and next. Guterres said that the wealthy G7’s economic clout had also shrunk in the past 30 years, accounting for 29.9 percent of global GDP in 2023 compared to 50.7 percent in 1980.
Ukrainian president Vladimir Zelensky appeared at the G7 conference in person on Sunday to chat with some of his biggest backers. Even before Zelensky landed, the G7 nations had unveiled a slew of new sanctions and other measures meant to punish Moscow over its invasion that began in February last year.
