GROUP OF SEVEN (G7)

INTRODUCTION:
The Group of Seven (G7) is an informal bloc of industrialized democracies--the United States,
Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the United Kingdom--that meets annually to discuss
issues such as global economic governance, international security, and energy policy.
Russia belonged to the forum from 1998 through 2014--then the Group of Eight (G8)--but was
suspended after its annexation of Crimea in March of that year.
HISTORY OF G7:
The G7's precursor was the 'Group of Six'. It was founded in 1975, consisting of finance
ministers and central bank governors from France, West Germany, Italy, Japan, the United
Kingdom and the United States, when Giscard d'Estaing invited them for an "informal gathering
at the chateau of Rambouillet, near Paris in a relaxed and private setting". The intent was "to
discuss current world issues (dominated at the time by the oil crisis) in a frank and informal
manner". The G6 followed an unofficial gathering starting in 1974 of senior financial officials
from the United States, the United Kingdom, West Germany, Japan and France. They were called
the "Library group" or the "Group of Five" because they met informally in the White House
Library in Washington, DC (this is not to be confused with the current, but completely different
"Group of Five", a group of the five top nations with emerging economies formed in 2005). The
"Library Group" were the top five of the world's then leading economies as ranked by per capita
GDP.
Canada became the seventh member to begin attending the summits in 1976, after which the
name 'Group 7' or G7 Summit was used. Until 1986, there was still a "Group of Five" or "G5", a
main policy coordination group of Finance Ministers and Central Bankers, but during Tokyo
Economic Declaration in 1986, Canada and Italy were officially added, replacing the "G5" with a
new "Group of Seven" or "G7" Forum.
FUNCTIONS OF G7:
The organization was originally founded to facilitate shared macroeconomic initiatives by its
members in response to the collapse of the exchange rate 1971, during the time of the Nixon
Shock, the 1970s energy crisis and the ensuing recession. Its goal was fine tuning of short term
economic policies among participant countries to monitor developments in the world economy
and assess economic policies.
In the first few years, the conversation was mostly about economic issues. In the 1980s, this
expanded to foreign and security policy topics such as wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The
discussion topics for the G7 meeting vary from year to year, depending on the most pressing
world issues at the time.
The G7 is an informal group, which means that it has no administrative structures of its own, and
makes no formal resolutions. But the fact that it doesnt try to behave like a conventional
organization doesnt mean that its not highly influential. During the annual meetings, some of
the worlds most powerful countries talk their way to common positions on global political
matters, and that can set the global tone for the year ahead.

GROUP OF EIGHT (G8)

INTRODUCTION:
The Group of Eight (currently known as Group of Seven) is a governmental political forum. It
was originally formed by six leading industrial countries and subsequently extended with two
additional members one of which, Russia, has been suspended. Since 2014 in effect it
comprises seven nations and the European Union.
The forum originated with a 1975 summit hosted by France that brought together representatives
of six governments: France, the Federal Republic of Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom,
and the United States, thus leading to the name Group of Six or G6. The summit became known
as the Group of Seven or G7 in 1976 with the addition of Canada. Russia was added to the
political forum from 1997, which then became known as the G8; Russia was, however,
suspended in 2014. The European Union has been represented within the G8 since the 1980s but
originally could not host or chair summits. The 40th summit was the first time the European
Union was able to host and chair a summit.
ROLE OF G8:
The G8, otherwise known as the Group of Eight, is an assembly of world leaders who meet
annually to discuss global issues. Each year, the G8 holds a Leaders Summit, in which Heads of
State and Government of member countries meet to discuss and attempt to reconcile global
issues. Although the G8 is best known for its annual summits, it works throughout the year to
tackle important contemporary topics such as the economy and climate change. The G8
discusses and creates global policies. However, adherence to these policies is not obligatory, and
other countries can decide whether or not to obey.
STRUCTURE AND ACTIVITIES OF G8:
By design, the G8 deliberately lacks an administrative structure like those for international
organizations, such as the United Nations or the World Bank. The group does not have a
permanent secretariat, or offices for its members.
The presidency of the group rotates annually among member countries, with each new term
beginning on 1 January of the year. The rotation order is: France, the United States, the United
Kingdom, Russia, Germany, Japan, Italy, and Canada. The country holding the presidency is
responsible for planning and hosting a series of ministerial-level meetings, leading up to a mid-
year summit attended by the heads of government. The president of the European Commission
participates as an equal in all summit events.
The ministerial meetings bring together ministers responsible for various portfolios to discuss
issues of mutual or global concern. The range of topics include health, law enforcement, labor,
economic and social development, energy, environment, foreign affairs, justice and interior,
terrorism, and trade. There are also a separate set of meetings known as the G8+5, created during
the 2005 Gleneagles, Scotland summit, that is attended by finance and energy ministers from all
eight member countries in addition to the five "outreach countries" which are also known as the
Group of Five Brazil, People's Republic of China, India, Mexico, and South Africa.

GROUP OF TWENTY (G20)

INTRODUCTION:
The Group of Twenty (also known as the G-20 or G20) is an international forum for the
governments and central bank governors from 20 major economies. The members include 19
individual countriesArgentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India,
Indonesia, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, the
United Kingdom and the United Statesalong with the European Union (EU). The EU is
represented by the European Commission and by the European Central Bank. The G-20 was
founded in 1999 with the aim of studying, reviewing, and promoting high-level discussion of
policy issues pertaining to the promotion of international financial stability. It seeks to address
issues that go beyond the responsibilities of any one organization. Collectively, the G-20
economies account for around 85% of the gross world product (GWP), 80% of world trade (or, if
excluding EU intra-trade, 75%), and two-thirds of the world population. The G-20 heads of
government or heads of state have periodically conferred at summits since their initial meeting in
2008, and the group also hosts separate meetings of finance ministers and central bank
governors.
With the G-20 growing in stature after its inaugural leaders' summit in 2008, its leaders
announced on 25 September 2009 that the group would replace the G8 as the main economic
council of wealthy nations. Since its inception, the G-20's membership policies have been
criticized by numerous intellectuals, and its summits have been a focus for major protests by
anti-globalists, nationalists and others.
ROLE AND LEGACY OF G20:
Launched at the 2009 Pittsburgh (US) Summit, this Growth Framework constitutes the matrix
of policies in which 1) each G20 country makes commitments and to which each country is held
accountable; and 2) G20 collective commitments are articulated and tracked.
Both of these functions are monitored through the IMFs Mutual Assessment Process, which also
charts different global scenarios in terms of growth, and rebalances in response to the action (or
lack thereof) of the G20s member countries.
The G20 does not bind any other country. But G20 countries do play a strong donor and
governance role in many of the worlds key institutions.
These leaders' commitments are decided during a long series of meetings between the different
tracks of the G20, such as the Sherpa, finance ministers and central bank governors, and many,
many (oh, so many) reports commissioned from the World Bank and IMF.
Based on all this spadework, G20 leaders tend to make commitments laid out in the Final
Communique. The G20 made a total of 282 commitments at the 2011 Cannes Summit (with the
full list available here). The Washington Summit in 2008 usefully included an action plan.
Many of these actions are often issues of technical financial regulation, and are ongoing but also
reactive to markets and politics. For example, Australia committed in Cannes to make clear and
credible fiscal consolidation plans to halve deficits by 2013 from 2010 levels, and to stabilize or
reduce government debt-to-GDP ratios by 2016, and the IMF is tracking this commitment.
But sometimes it is very difficult to find out how those commitments by member states are being
implemented in any qualitative sense, and so academics and think tanks have attempted various
ways to do so. There is a general view that more accountability is required.
Sometimes it is extremely clear what the G20 can do as the site of 84% of the worlds economic
output in a crisis, it can mobilize resources.

GROUP OF 77 (G77)
INTRODUCTION:
The Group of 77 (G77) at the United Nations is a loose coalition of developing nations, designed
to promote its members' collective economic interests and create an enhanced joint negotiating
capacity in the United Nations. There were 77 founding members of the organization, but by
November 2013 the organization had since expanded to 134 member countries.
The group was founded on June 15, 1964, by the "Joint Declaration of the Seventy-Seven
Countries" issued at the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). The
first major meeting was in Algiers in 1967, where the Charter of Algiers was adopted and the
basis for permanent institutional structures was begun. There are Chapters of the Group of 77 in
Rome (FAO), Vienna (UNIDO), Paris (UNESCO), Nairobi (UNEP) and the Group of 24 in
Washington, D.C.
AIMS AND GOALS:
The Group of 77 is the largest intergovernmental organization of developing countries in the
United Nations, which provides the means for the countries of the South to articulate and
promote their collective economic interests and enhance their joint negotiating capacity on all
major international economic issues within the United Nations system, and promote South-South
cooperation for development.
ACTIVITIES:
Produces joint declarations, action programs and agreements on specific topic such as
Algiers Charter 1967; Lima Declaration 1971; Manila Declaration 1976; Arusha Program
for Self-Reliance and Framework for Negotiations 1979; Caracas Program of Action on
ECDC 1981; Cairo Declaration on ECDC 1986; Havana Declaration 1987; Agreement on
a Global System of Trade Preferences among Developing Countries (GSTP) 1988;
Caracas Declaration 1989; Tehran Declaration 1991; 30th Anniversary Ministerial
Declaration 1994; Ministerial Statement on "An Agenda for Development" 1994; the San
Jose Declaration and Plan of Action on South-South Trade, Investment and Finance 1997;
and the Bali Declaration and Plan of Action on Regional and Sub regional Economic
Cooperation of the Developing Countries (1998).
Makes statements, sponsors and negotiates resolutions and decisions at global
conferences and other meetings held under the aegis of the United Nations dealing with
international economic cooperation and development.
Sponsors projects on ECDC/TCDC in developing countries through funding from the
Perez-Guerrero Trust Fund.