The agenda for the summit in Munich includes Russia’s war on Ukraine, climate change, energy and the looming food security crisis.
About 4,000 protesters gathered in Munich as the G7 (G7), the major economic powerhouses, prepare to hold their annual rally in Germany’s Bavarian Alps.
Organizers had hoped to mobilize up to 20,000 protesters in the Bavarian city, but said they were disappointed by the low initial turnout in Munich’s Theresienwiese park, according to German news agency dpa. reported.
Uwe Hiksch, one of the organizers of the protest, said potential participants might consider it inappropriate to challenge the world’s richest democracy during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. .
“A lot of people seem upset about the war in Ukraine,” Hiksch told the DPA.
About 18,000 police officers are deployed around the summit site and protests.
From Attac to the World Wide Fund for Nature, 15 groups critical of globalization are calling on people to join the demonstrations. Their various demands include phasing out fossil fuels, protecting biodiversity, social justice and greater efforts to fight hunger.
“My request to the G7 is that they make a clear commitment to transition away from fossil fuels, all forms of fossil fuels, by 2035 at the latest, so that they end the financing of war and conflict. You can stop it,” said Killian Walter. from green peas.
Members of Oxfam have joined earlier protests in the city wearing the oversized heads of G7 leaders, demanding more global equality.
“Concrete action is needed to address the multiple crises of our time,” spokesman Tobias Hauschild said. “That means the G7 must act immediately. They must fight hunger, inequality and poverty.”
The G7 leaders of the US, UK, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan began arriving in Germany on Saturday. The summit’s agenda includes issues such as Russia’s war against Ukraine, climate change, energy and the looming food security crisis.
“Russia’s brutal war against Ukraine is having an effect here, too,” German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said in a video podcast, referring to rising food, gas and energy prices.
Scholz said G7 leaders will discuss the current situation caused by the war in Ukraine and “at the same time, ensure that man-made climate change is stopped.”
The chancellor was to welcome the leaders at the Elmau resort near Garmisch-Partenkirchen on Saturday night.
The G7 summit itself will be held in Ellmau, Bavaria from Sunday to Tuesday. After the conference concludes, the leaders of his 30 nations in the NATO alliance will meet for an annual summit Wednesday-Thursday in Madrid, Spain.
