Working Groups

The effects and impacts of the climate crisis are becoming more and more tangible: in 2023, temperatures and extreme events were recorded on a much larger scale than we had previously known, and almost no region of the world was spared. This should prompt us to accelerate the ecological transition, to phase out fossil fuels as soon as possible – 87 percent of climate-changing emissions come from the use of fossil fuels – to choose new renewable energies, to reject false solutions and to act on development and consumption patterns.

After COP28 in Dubai, which adopted a decision and directions for countries’ next commitments, starting with the “transition away from fossil fuels,” the G7 could play an important role in initiating concrete proposals and policies in this direction, as well as making concrete the goals of tripling renewable energy and doubling energy efficiency. The oldest industrialized countries must commit themselves to the path they have chosen and help other countries, especially the most vulnerable and those with fewer financial resources. Commitments to climate finance must also be honored.

If the climate situation is dramatic, less obvious but no less dangerous is the situation of nature and biodiversity, as well as the many other environmental problems that undermine the very basis of survival of all animal and plant species, including our own.

The social and environmental effects of the ecological and climate crisis must be addressed in an integrated way, according to the just transition approach, which means not only accompanying workers from jobs in the fossil economy to those in the new green and regenerative economy, but also ensuring access to the transition for all, within countries and to all countries.  

The C7 “Climate, Energy Transformation and Environmental Justice” Working Group will need to identify targets to ask the G7 to commit to, as well as to demand compliance with commitments already made (e.g. phasing out fossil fuel subsidies) in an ongoing dialogue with governments and delegated experts.

2024 Coordinators

Mariagrazia Midulla, GCAP Italy/WWF Italy

Caroline Brouillet, CAN Canada

In the current era of polycrises, billions of people are prevented from enjoying their right to health. The WHO estimates are extremely worrying: a shortfall of 10 million health workers is expected by 2030 mostly in low and lower-middle countries, while between 2030 and 2050, climate change is expected to cause approximately 250 000 additional deaths per year, with the direct damage costs to health estimated to be between US$ 2–4 billion per year by 2030. Furthermore, Universal Health Coverage seems to remain a distant goal, and at the current pace of progress, up to one-third of the world’s population will remain underserved by 2030.

In this alarming and increasingly complex context, it is crucial that civil society and communities intensify their efforts in advocating for global as well as local policies ensuring that everyone everywhere can achieve the highest level of physical, mental, and social well-being, and are able to  hold governments accountable in that regard. The C7 Global Health Working Group (GHWG) seeks to promote a global health approach embedded in the highest international human rights standards, equity, gender equality, climate adaptability and sustainability, and global solidarity and responsibility. The GHWG will draw G7 attention to the unique contribution that women and girls in all their diversity, vulnerable groups, marginalised communities, and key populations can bring to the dialogue on global health as subject matter experts and powerful agents for change.

It will also advocate for a global health architecture that reinforces the international leading role of the WHO and counter further fragmentation by better coordinating efforts in the global financial architecture, strengthening R&D, equitable access to health commodities and medical countermeasures as well as holistic and comprehensive preventive approaches in a way that is prominently informed by at the principles of equity, global justice, solidarity and people and planetary health. Regarding pandemic PPR, rights-based and evidence-informed strategies and community health responses are crucial in the path of eradicating inequality both within and across countries.

At the same time, the GHWG will also keep the attention high on existing health challenges, as COVID-19, HIV, tuberculosis and malaria, neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), non-communicable diseases (NCDs), equitable access to right-based sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), mental health, and healthy ageing. Given that biodiversity loss, environmental degradation and climate change have been affecting people’s health, e.g. by exacerbating antimicrobial resistance (AMR), a greater focus on the One Health approach to guarantee planetary health must be secured. The serious impacts of ongoing geo-political conflicts on people’s health and the situation of people on the move will be taken into account in the work of the GHWG.

International cooperation on these agendas must be fostered and adequately financed, and G7 countries have the chance and responsibility of taking leadership in supporting and adopting global health strategies and responses that prioritise human rights, responsible sustainability, transparency and a continued commitment to effective multilateralism.

2024 Coordinators

Stefania Burbo, GCAP Italy/Global Health Italian Network

Robin Montgomery – Canadian HIV Legal Network

Today’s world is home to numerous ongoing violent and often protracted conflicts, resulting in untold human suffering, millions of forcibly displaced persons, massive destruction of homes, hospitals, schools and other critical civilian infrastructure, and without real and clear political resolutions to resolve them. The scale and impact of climate-related emergencies also continues to grow, causing massive displacement and the loss of lives, livelihoods and futures. These impacts are only foreseen to grow in the years ahead.  At the start of 2024, 300 million people in the world need humanitarian assistance and protection. The impacts are felt first and foremost by the world’s most vulnerable people, particularly women and children, older people, and those marginalised and excluded. While humanitarian needs are growing, the funding of global humanitarian appeals is going down, and in 2023, the overall funding amounted to only 37% of total requirements, leaving millions exposed to vulnerability. In such a difficult context, NGOs, civil society and local community-led and volunteer groups continue to stretch to deliver humanitarian assistance in even the most difficult and dangerous environments, even as funding levels decrease. While humanitarian action cannot replace systematic efforts to address root causes of crises – violent conflicts, climate emergencies, global food insecurity and poverty and exclusions, the humanitarian system is being forced to do more with less. This means new thinking is needed; how to increase the voice and agency given to those affected by crises, the role and leadership of local actors in preparedness and response and the way the system complements, but does not replace, other political, development and climate change processes. At the same time the space for humanitarian action is under enormous pressure within complex and politicized environments. The global commitment to principled humanitarian action, with core humanitarian principles of humanity, impartiality, neutrality and independence, as the cornerstone of International Humanitarian Law (IHL), is increasingly being challenged. The C7 Working Group on Principled Humanitarian Assistance will continue to raise awareness of critical humanitarian issues and ensure these remain a priority in dialogue between civil society and the G7. Topics covered in this Working Group include strengthening principled humanitarian assistance, exploring better ways for engaging in strategic collaboration with development action, improving quality and accountability to those most affected by crises, increasing the amount and quality of humanitarian financing, and improving humanitarian access. Together, building a more effective and efficient humanitarian system. 2024 Coordinators Miro Modrusan, Gcap Italy/INTERSOS  Jeremy Wellard, ICVA

Even if the G7 does not configure a multilateral and enlarged group of countries, and therefore in the first instance is not the privileged place to build shared international Peace policies and practices, there is no doubt that the policies that are defined in this framework have an impact on global security. In this sense, it is therefore fundamental that the civil society committed to pointing the G7 countries in the direction of democratic cooperation – and of improving living conditions on a global level – takes the task to interact with them elaborating proposals and engagement initiatives on the subject of Peace

At the 2023 meeting, for the first time, the G7 leaders (and the preparatory path to their meeting) were able to discuss the topic of nuclear disarmament, taking advantage of the significant venue of the summit: Hiroshima. Civil society also worked in this direction, starting with the recognition that the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons is unacceptable and illegitimate. Within the specific Working Group there was a discussion regarding the abolition of nuclear weapons, the humanitarian aspects of the possible use of nuclear arsenals, the assistance towards the victims of nuclear weapons and the budget and resources allocated on nuclear weapons.

For the G7 in 2024, hosted by Italy whose involvement in the NATO’s ‘nuclear sharing’ programme should be duly noted, it was decided to broaden the focus of this WG’s scope considering that in addition to nuclear weapons there are now many other threats to global peace. First and foremost: international instability arising from inequality, lack of democracy, lack of rights, and poverty. In this sense, the presence of nuclear weapons configures the maximum (symbolic and practical) summit of a militarization that solves none of the global problems, but exacerbates them by weakening the possible paths to Peace.

The presence of conflicts in the world, from those of the largest scale and impact to those that are less well known but no less bloody, should also stimulate the G7 leaders to develop global security policy proposals that, starting from the protection of populations and the strengthening of the pillars that make up a positive peace, can truly lead to a safer and more peaceful world.

In this Working Group, the representatives of civil society, providing already established expertise and with their experience in the field, will try to elaborate concrete suggestions and possible policy initiatives to submit to the G7 Governments, towards a “shared global security” that pushes for a strengthening of multilateral cooperation (in the political, economic, democratic, social sense).

2024 Coordinators

Francesco Vignarca, GCAP Italy/Italian Network for Peace and Disarmament

Emily Molinari, International Peace Bureau

Food Systems are central to ecosystem health, social justice and wellbeing, food and nutrition security, culture and landscape protection and planetary rights, while the current model of industrialised agriculture is posing critical challenges regarding biodiversity loss, overconsumption of water, greenhouse gas emissions and groundwater pollution, with very serious implications for human, animal and environmental health. The WG on Food Justice and Food System Transformation will focus attention strongly on existing challenges of Food Systems which are in the grip of financial speculation and corporate-driven globalised industrial food systems and are affected by the serious weaknesses of global supply chains, linked to conflicts,  the price of energy and fertilisers, and pandemics exacerbated by the reduction of natural spaces and biodiversity.  

Food inequality and poverty continue to grow or remain at unacceptably high levels. The crisis is not one of global availability, but of structural factors affecting access to food and healthy and sustainable diets, as confirmed by global food crisis reports for the last 7 years. Whereas global food production continues to grow, the rates of utilisation of food reserves are virtually unchanged, and the increase in the number of people suffering from malnutrition, hunger and obesity-related diseases are the result of inequalities, policy failures and dependencies resulting in a systemic crisis; therefore, a rethinking of food systems is needed both globally and locally.  

Financial speculation is a major component of inflationary phenomena and unjustified increases in food prices, aggravated by other speculative phenomena such as land grabbing. The WG will draw attention to the inequality which affects especially women in accessing land, credit, inputs and services. 

Other elements that exacerbate inequalities and hinder access to food are closely associated with the debt crisis affecting countries of the Global South, the World Trade Organisation (WTO) policies of disincentives to public strategic food reserves, trade agreements that penalise territorially embedded food systems, inadequate support for domestic smallholder food production, and  incoherent policy frameworks at all levels. 

Democratic participation in food system negotiation processes, particularly by those social actors most affected by food insecurity, is highly inadequate, while corporate interests are gaining space. Clear rules of accountability and Conflict of Interest are needed. The Food Justice WG will advocate for better balanced mechanism for dialogue and power relationship among key stakeholders, recalling previous G7 Agriculture Ministers’ commitment, and will call for support for the UN Committee on World Food Security (CFS) as the foremost inclusive global policy forum on food security and nutrition. The WG will propose support to CSO actors, policy reforms, funding to initiatives and programming, and to global frameworks for food sovereignty, agroecology and food system transformation in support of a human rights-centred approach. 

2024 Coordinators 

Italo Rizzi, GCAP Italy/LVIA

Musa Sowe, ROPPA