Pope Francis, left, greets Jordan's King Abdullah II during a working session on AI, Energy, Africa and Mideast at the G7 summit, in Borgo Egnazia, near Bari in southern Italy, on June 14.Andrew Medichini/The Associated Press
If there was one winner at the G7 summit in southern Italy, which issued its final communiqué on Friday night after two days of meetings between leaders, it was Volodymyr Zelensky.
The Ukrainian president, who shared the stage on Thursday night with U.S. President Joe Biden at the summit, left the country with a pledge for a quick US$50-billion loan from the G7 leaders to stay in the fight against Russia.
His victory was all the more sweet because the loan will be financed by the profits from the US$280-billion in seized Russian assets held abroad. He also signed a 10-year security agreement with Mr. Biden, though the potential fruits of that deal – such as air-defence systems – were not immediate and harder to judge, since the agreement came with no spending commitment.
“We remain determined to dispel any false notion that that time is on Russia’s side, that destroying infrastructure and livelihoods has no consequences for Russia,” the final communiqué said.
Elsewhere in the document, security and pleas for peace in general emerged as the strongest points. The group’s statements on other areas of concern, such as climate change, were less assertive.
The G7 leaders said they “fully endorse” Mr. Biden’s peace plan for Gaza, which would lead to a ceasefire, the release of the remaining hostages being held by Hamas, and expanded flows of humanitarian assistance throughout the beleaguered enclave. The communiqué reiterated the G7 leaders’ “unwavering commitment to the vision of a two-state solution,” which would create a sovereign Palestinian state.
The G7 leaders also condemned China for its support of Russia, including its industrial support for the Kremlin’s war machine. “We call on China to cease the transfer of dual-use materials, including weapons components and equipment, that are inputs for Russia’s defence sector,” the statement said.
The G7 threatened sanctions on any Chinese entities that supply equipment that could be used in Russia’s war efforts. (There is no evidence that China is supplying finished weapons to Russia.)
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, third from right, and Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi, left, take part in a family photo during the G7 Summit in Savelletri Di Fasano, Italy on Friday, June 14, 2024.Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press
The summit also made pledges on migration, including the introduction of enhanced border checks to control “irregular migration,” economic investment in countries whose citizens migrate to Europe and elsewhere, and a commitment to go after transnational criminal groups engaged in human trafficking.
Elsewhere, the communiqué made few bold statements or failed to build on momentum set out in last year’s Hiroshima summit.
On climate, there was no new major initiative, just reiteration of a previous pledge to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050 and phase out coal plants by 2035. But the communiqué's language leaves the door open to extended life for natural gas plants, mostly because Russian gas has largely been shut out of the European market, raising energy prices.
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“In the exceptional circumstance of accelerating the phase-out of our dependency on Russian energy, publicly supported investments in the gas sector can be appropriate as a temporary response,” the document says.
Bronwen Tucker, public finance lead at the environmental group Oil Change International, said in a statement that the coal phase-out date is “inadequate” and accused leaders of endorsing increased fossil gas production.
The G7 countries, he added, “are sending a terrible signal at a time when they should be focusing on accelerating the phase-out, not delaying it.”
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Elsewhere in the text, there was no mention of guaranteeing access to “safe and legal” abortions. Giorgia Meloni, the Italian Prime Minister, who hosted the summit, had clashed with French President Emmanuel Macron over the inclusion of that language.
The document also calls for international co-operation on governance of artificial intelligence, a topic that rose to the forefront of the summit earlier on Friday when Pope Francis, in the first G7 appearance by a Pope, spoke to the gathered presidents and prime ministers about the issue.
Pope Francis became the first pontiff to address a Group of Seven summit on Friday, warning world leaders that Artificial Intelligence must never be allowed to get the upper hand over humanity. Zachary Goelman produced this report.
Reuters
Francis used his moral authority on Friday to warn that unregulated artificial intelligence poses a threat to fair, secure and equal societies.
In a long speech, he argued that AI is a tool that lacks human values of mercy, morality, compassion and forgiveness. He called for the “ethical moderation of algorithms and artificial intelligence programs,” to prevent injustices and dangers such as AI-powered weapons deciding who to kill.
“Indeed, we must remember that no innovation is neutral,” he said. “In order for them to be instruments for building up the good and a better tomorrow, they must always be aimed at the good of every human being. They must have an ethical inspiration.”
Ms. Meloni had invited the Pope to the summit, probably playing to her broadly Catholic voter base, which propelled her Brothers of Italy party to victory in European Union elections earlier this month. But she has also made AI one of the signature themes of her two-year premiership. She has expressed concern about the economic and social consequences of AI, including job losses in a country with traditionally high youth unemployment.
Francis entered the G7′s round-table session on Friday in a wheelchair and greeted the G7 leaders and their guests, including Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, Brazilian President Lula da Silva and the new Argentine President, Javier Milei, who is known as a libertarian, free-market economist.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau seemed to make something of breakthrough with Mr. Modi. They talked on the sidelines of the G7 on Friday, marking the first time they had met since Mr. Trudeau publicly accused the Modi government of being behind the assassination of a Canadian Sikh activist (the Indian government has denied the accusation).
The next G7 summit, in 2025, will take place on Mr. Trudeau’s home turf, in Kananaskis, Alta. With him and several of his G7 counterparts facing elections between now and then, the makeup of the next gathering could be very different.
Eric Reguly