addressed environmental pressures through commitments on wildfire mitigation, while placing increased emphasis on critical minerals and transnational repression as emerg- ing areas of concern. However, much less attention and agreement came on traditional G7 issues, including mac- roeconomics, trade, health, education, nuclear non-proliferation and clean energy. KANANASKIS INTERIM COMPLIANCE The G7 Research Group selected 20 priority commitments from the Kananaskis Summit to monitor for members’ compliance during the fol- lowing year. This selection reflected the distribution of commitment subjects and the core priorities of Canada’s presidency, with greater focus given to subjects with the high- est concentration of commitments. The selection included six commitments on the digital economy. Four environment -related commitments focused on wildfires, biodiversity and deforesta- tion. Two commitments each were on regional security, development, migra- tion and transnational repression, and one each on critical minerals trade and infrastructure. Compliance with these 20 commit- ments was assessed from 18 June to 28 December 2025, halfway through the period between the Kananaskis and Évian summits. Final assessment of the full year between the two summits is ongoing and will be published on the eve of the Évian Summit in June. By 28 December, average compliance with these 20 Kananaskis commit- ments was 75%, which is 13% lower than the comparable interim score for the 2024 Apulia Summit. This is also below the 90% interim score for Hiro- shima in 2023 and the 85% scores for Elmau in 2022 and Cornwall in 2021. By subject, quantum investment and commercialisation already reached full compliance of 100% by Decem- ber. Commitments on biodiversity, the digital divide, infrastructure, border management and regional security in the Middle East each scored 94%. Workforce development for women and underrepresented groups in the digital economy and AI energy supply chains both scored 88%, and criti- cal minerals development scored 81%. Commitments on AI for SMEs, trans-
national crime and regional security from Russia each scored 75%. Deforest- ation, transnational repression and wildfire impacts on health scored 69%. Data and communications security scored 63%, development and under- standing of transnational repression 56%, and wildfire mitigation 50%. The lowest score was for trade, at 25%. By member, Canada and the Euro- pean Union achieved the highest score with 93% compliance, followed by the United Kingdom at 88% and the United States at 75%. These members were followed by Germany and Italy, both scoring 65%, followed closely by Japan at 63% and the 2026 host, France, at 60%. PROSPECTS FOR COMPLIANCE Final compliance usually exceeds interim levels. However, by the time the Évian Summit begins, compliance will likely vary even more across coun- tries and commitments, due to both domestic pressures and broader global conditions. This year’s summit is also set against a backdrop of significant geopolitical challenges, including the US-led war against Iran and its impact on global energy and supply chains, as well as Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine. France, the host of the Évian Summit, has emphasised a return to the G7’s core function as a forum for dialogue on pressing global issues. In this context, the French presidency has prioritised reducing global inequali- ties and fostering mutually beneficial partnerships between G7 members and developing countries. Évian can be expected to focus on AI and quan- tum technologies, although attention on those issues will likely be shaped and potentially constrained by more immediate geopolitical and economic priorities. The G7 is also expected to build on progress made at Kananaskis and the energy and environmen- tal ministers’ meeting in Toronto in October 2025, particularly regarding critical mineral commitments. Nevertheless, these ambitions may be overshadowed by the oil crisis stemming from the US–Iran conflict. With little change in leadership at the G7 table – the only newcomer being Japan’s Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae – it remains to be seen if a consensus can be reached and if new develop- ments do not overshadow the summit’s agenda.
// ILYA GOHEEN llya Goheen is co-chair of summit studies for the G7 Research Group for France’s 2026 Évian Summit. He is a fourth-year student study- ing European affairs, public policy and political science at the Univer- sity of Toronto. Ilya has worked with the Global Governance Program since 2022 in various roles, attending both the 2025 Kananaskis Summit and the Toronto Environment and Energy Ministers’ Meeting. In the fall, he will start graduate studies at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy’s Centre for European and Eurasian Studies, where he will focus on political legitimacy and memory politics.
// PETRINA VAN NIEUWSTADT
Petrina van Nieuwstadt is co-chair of summit studies at the G7 Research Group for the 2026 Évian Summit. She was a compliance analyst for the 2023 Hiroshima Summit, lead analyst for the 2024 Apulia Summit and editor for the 2025 Kananaskis Summit, and a member of the field team for the Apulia and Kananaskis summits. She is finishing a degree in philosophy at the University of Toronto, where she is also a teach- ing assistant and research fellow at the Jackman Humanities Institute. In the fall she will pursue an MPhil at the University of Cambridge.
135 globalgovernancemedia.org
Made with FlippingBook - professional solution for displaying marketing and sales documents online