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FACT SHEET: The 2024 G7 Summit in Apulia, Italy

2024-06-17 07:20:19

President Biden and G7 leaders stood united at the G7 Summit in Apulia, Italy, taking bold action to meet the tests of our time:  supporting Ukraine’s fight for freedom and driving up the costs of Russia’s war, pushing back on unfair economic practices, tackling the climate crisis and food and health insecurity, harnessing critical technologies for the benefit of all, and working with partners around the world to support developing countries investing in their futures.

Supporting Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom

Joined by Ukrainian President Zelenskyy, G7 leaders reaffirmed their unwavering support for Ukraine for as long as it takes – sending an unmistakable signal to Putin that he will not outlast our resolve. 

  • Unlocking $50 billion for Ukraine:  G7 leaders announced a plan to provide Ukraine with $50 billion in new financing by bringing forward the interest earned on immobilized Russian sovereign assets held in the European Union and other jurisdictions.  Leaders reaffirmed their commitment that Russia’s sovereign assets within G7 jurisdictions will remain immobilized until Russia ends its aggression and pays for the damage it has caused to Ukraine.  This new financing will provide critically needed support for Ukraine’s military, budget, and reconstruction needs.  The United States will work with Ukraine and G7 partners in the coming months to finalize the details of the financing arrangement and issue the loan by the end of the year.
  • Driving Up Costs for the Russian War Machine: The Biden Administration this week issued a sweeping set of new sanctions and export control measures, guided by G7 commitments to intensify the pressure on Russia for its war against Ukraine.  Foreign banks now face increased sanctions risk when they deal with Russia’s war economy.  New sanctions on more than 300 individuals and entities in Russia, the People’s Republic of China (PRC), and globally target Russia’s financial infrastructure; over a dozen international evasion and procurement networks; Russia’s future energy, metals, and mining revenues; and Russian elites involved in the deportation or so-called re-education of Ukrainian children.  The Administration also announced steps to restrict access to certain U.S. software and information technology services, to crack down on diversion of goods through shell companies, and to more extensively restrict exports to entities that supply Russia with U.S.-branded items produced overseas.
  • Supporting Ukraine Now and in the Future. In Puglia, President Biden and President Zelensky signed the U.S.-Ukraine Bilateral Security Agreement as a demonstration of enduring U.S. support for Ukraine, including through binding commitments to deepen our security and defense cooperation and to consult in the event of a future armed attack.

Advancing International Peace, Security, and Prosperity

The G7’s work is grounded in a shared commitment to respect the UN Charter, promote international peace and security, and uphold the free and open rules-based international order.

  • Calling for a Comprehensive Deal in Gaza: The G7 was united in supporting the comprehensive deal outlined by President Biden that would lead to an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, the release of all hostages, a significant and sustained increase in the flow of humanitarian assistance throughout Gaza, and an enduring end to the crisis, with Israel’s security interests and safety for Palestinian civilians in Gaza assured.
  • Standing with Allies and Partners in the Indo-Pacific: President Biden discussed robust U.S. engagement in the Indo-Pacific to strengthen our alliances and partnerships, and welcomed the increasing connectivity between European and Indo-Pacific partners.  He joined with other leaders in stressing the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, and in raising concerns regarding the PRC’s dangerous actions in the South China Sea.
  • Deepening Cooperation with Partners in Africa: The G7 is working together with African partners to contribute to global stability and prosperity, and have endorsed African countries’ call for greater voice in international bodies.

Promoting Economic Resilience and Economic Security

President Biden rallied the G7 to take further steps to protect our workers, industries, and the investments we are making from begin undermined by the PRC’s unfair practices.  The PRC’s policies are creating global spillovers, including harmful overcapacity, that undercut market firms and lead to supply chain dependencies in sectors such as solar, wind, electric vehicles, lithium-ion batteries, medical devices, mature-node semiconductors, steel, aluminum, and others. 

  • Working Together to Level the Playing Field and Protect Economic Security: The G7 pledged to work together to confront non-market policies and practices and efforts to dominate strategic sectors.  The G7 will undertake new monitoring and information-sharing efforts, update our respective toolkits to counter harmful practices, and coordinate efforts to deter and respond to economic coercion.
  • Building Partnerships to Promote Resilient Supply Chains and Reduce Critical Dependencies: The G7 will work with partners in developing countries and emerging markets to increase their participation in global supply chains while promoting high standards.
  • Protecting Critical and Sensitive Technologies: We are updating our respective tools to protect certain critical and sensitive technologies from being used to undermine international peace and security, while avoiding broader restrictions on international trade and investment.  The G7 is also strengthening cooperation on research security, data security, and investment screening efforts, and coordinating to streamline the implementation of export controls.

Partnering with Developing Countries to Invest in their Future

The G7 is taking ambitious steps to scale up support to developing countries and accelerate progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals.

  • Breaking the Global Debt Impasse: Recognizing that mounting debt burdens are putting developing countries’ ability to make such critical investments out of reach, President Biden – alongside Kenyan President Ruto – championed and garnered G7 support for the Nairobi-Washington Vision that calls on the international community to step up support for developing countries to make critical investments and reforms.  The G7 committed to work with the IMF, World Bank, and other stakeholders to bring this plan forward, with a view to realizing it for pilot countries this year.
  • Boosting the Financial Power of the International Financial Institutions: President Biden further championed efforts to deliver better, bigger, more effective multilateral development banks (MDBs).  The G7 rallied together to announce planned contributions which, once approved domestically, would make it possible for the World Bank to boost lending by $70 billion over the next decade.  This is on top of efforts from the United States and other MDB shareholders to unlock over $250 billion in new lending capacity at these institutions.
  • Delivering on the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment (PGI): President Biden and Italian Prime Minister Meloni co-hosted a PGI side event that included participation by BlackRock Chairman and CEO Larry Fink and Microsoft Chairman and CEO Satya Nadella.  G7 leaders and private sector executives reaffirmed their commitment to unlocking public and private capital for investments in partner countries, demonstrated by BlackRock’s announcement that a group of investors plan to invest at least $4 billion in alignment with PGI priorities and Microsoft’s announcement of $5 billion in recent digital infrastructure investments in emerging markets.  President Biden announced new projects and highlighted progress on PGI economic corridors, including the Lobito Corridor in Sub-Saharan Africa and the Luzon Corridor in the Philippines.  The United States has mobilized more than $60 billion to date towards PGI.

Accelerating the Clean Energy Transition to Address Climate Change

The G7 is accelerating its work to address the challenges of climate change, pollution, and biodiversity loss.  G7 members reaffirmed ambitious COP28 commitments to triple renewable energy capacity, double global energy efficiency by 2030, and strengthen energy security.

  • Phasing Out Unabated Coal Power and Increasing Energy Storage: The G7 has committed for the first time to phase out unabated coal power generation in energy systems during the first half of the 2030s.  The G7 has also further set a target to deploy 1,500 GW of long-duration energy storage by 2030, building on top of the COP28 pledge to triple globally installed renewable energy by 2030.
  • Building Clean and Resilient Supply Chains:  Working with Congress, President Biden announced that the United States intends to contribute $5 million to the Partnership for Resilient and Inclusive Supply-Chain Enhancement (RISE), launched by the G7 last year.  RISE supports low- and middle-income countries to invest in their economies and strengthen their engagement throughout critical minerals supply chains, helping to drive the clean energy transition and promote resilient supply chains.
  • Promoting International Collaboration on Nuclear and Fusion Energy:  The G7 recognized nuclear energy as a clean/zero emissions energy source that can reduce dependence on fossil fuels to address the climate crisis and improve global energy security, and pledged to support multilateral efforts to strengthen the resilience of nuclear supply chains.  Recognizing the potential for fusion energy to serve as a breakthrough energy solution, the G7 is establishing a Working Group on Fusion Energy to share best practices and promote cooperation on research and development.

Promoting Health and Food Security

The G7 continues to lead global efforts to address the food security crisis and support strong, resilient and responsive health systems around the world.

  • Launching the Apulia Food Security Initiative:  G7 leaders joined Italy in launching the Apulia Food Security Initiative to address structural barriers to food security and nutrition and build more resilient, sustainable, and productive agriculture and food systems.  Aligned with the United States’ signature food security initiative, The Feed the Future Initiative, as well as the Vision for Adapted Crops and Soils, the G7 recommitted to investing in sustainable and resilient food systems and in healthy, fertile soil management and climate-adapted crop varieties.
  • Transforming Global Health Security Financing:  President Biden and G7 leaders called for at least $2 billion in new pledges for the Pandemic Fund, and pledges equal to or greater than that for catalytic financing, which helps developing countries build pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response capacities.  They additionally committed to achieve concrete progress to boost surge financing for medical countermeasure (MCM) to enable countries to quickly procure, produce, and deliver MCMs during future pandemics.
  • Expanding Immunization Coverage:  President Biden and G7 leaders expressed support for a sustainable replenishment of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, this year, with the goal of significantly expanding immunization coverage globally.  President Biden committed to making a robust and multi-year pledge to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, in support of this year’s replenishment and urged other G7 leaders to step up with ambitious pledges of their own.
  • Addressing antimicrobial resistance (AMR): G7 Leaders committed to take action to address the emergence, spread, and impact of AMR, including through ensuring a successful High-Level Meeting on AMR in September 2024 that galvanizes action on this critical health, economic, and security threat.

Investing in Childcare to Support Women’s Economic Participation

The G7 is tackling the unequal gender distribution of care work, which contributes to gender inequality.  The G7 committed to support, by 2035, at least 200 million more women to join the workforce by investing in efforts to close the global gap in the availability of childcare – including through the World Bank Invest in Childcare Initiative announced by First Lady Dr. Jill Biden in 2022 to help promote women’s economic opportunity.  G7 partners have contributed more than $100 million to the World Bank to support more high-quality investments in childcare globally.

Enhancing Our Partnership on Migration

Drawn from the principles of the Los Angeles Declaration on Migration and Protection that President Biden launched at the Summit of the Americas in 2022, the G7 affirmed a collective commitment to addressing migration in ways that reflect both the challenges and opportunities it presents.  Leaders endorsed a three-pronged approach focused on addressing root causes of irregular migration, strengthening safe and regular migration pathways, and enhancing border management and enforcement and curbing transnational organized crime.

Deepening Cooperation on Artificial Intelligence

In line with the Biden Administration’s vision laid out in the October 2023 Executive Order on the Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence, the G7 is building partnerships around the world to ensure the benefits of artificial intelligence and other technologies are widely shared while mitigating risks.

  • Bridging Technology Divides and Addressing AI’s Impact on Workers: G7 leaders affirmed the importance of international partnerships to bridge the digital divide and ensure people everywhere access the benefits of AI and other technologies in order to make scientific advancements, promote sustainable development, improve public health, accelerate the clean energy transition, and more. G7 labor ministers will develop an action plan to leverage AI’s potential to increase quality jobs and empower workers while addressing its potential challenges and risks to workers and labor markets.

Increasing Coordination to Promote AI Safety:  G7 leaders committed to step up efforts to enhance interoperability between our respective approaches to AI governance and risk management.  This includes deepening cooperation between the U.S. AI Safety Institute and similar bodies in other G7 countries to advance international standards for AI development and deployment.

  • Promoting Resilient Technology Supply Chains: The G7 welcomed the establishment of a Semiconductors G7 Point of Contact Group to bolster our coordination on issues impacting this critical sector underpinning the AI ecosystem.

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