// EDITOR’S INTRODUCTION
Despite mounting geopolitical tensions, the Évian Summit offers a critical opportunity for the G7 to reinforce unity, expand its agenda and shape global governance outcomes Promising potential for a productive Évian Summit
minister Keir Starmer. Japanese prime minister Takaichi Sanae will be at her first. Their invited leaders come from the key countries of the Global South: Brazil’s President Lula da Silva, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Korea’s President Lee Jae Myung and Kenya’s President William Ruto. Ukraine’s Pres- ident Volodymyr Zelenskyy may also be invited. CONFRONTING INTERCONNECTED CONFLICTS These leaders will confront a com- prehensive, interconnected complex of global conflicts. These begin with the wars in Iran, the Middle East and Ukraine, military confrontations in the Indo-Pacific region and violence in North Africa and the Caribbean. These tensions have created new threats in security, energy, food, trade, supply chain security, inflation and economic growth, as well as human health, cli- mate change, pollution and biodiversity loss. They arouse fears of a new surge of unwanted immigration from conflict zones, terrorism and foreign interfer-
ence in G7 polities and societies. And they could divert leaders from the urgent need to govern the proliferating digital technologies of artificial intelligence and quantum computing. POLICY AND POLITICAL PRIORITIES In response, G7 leaders will greatly expand the highly focused, economic and development priorities that France ini- tially set for its 2026 G7 presidency. These were addressing global macro economic imbalances among the world’s biggest economies, creating develop- ment partnerships beyond government aid, restoring multilateral frameworks and new rules for global governance, and building bridges and cooperation with emerging countries, notably those in the BRICS and the G20. These priori- ties were soon joined by critical minerals supply chain resilience; geopolitical crises, especially support for Ukraine; pro- tecting children through development programmes and by controlling online assaults; and countering organised crime and illicit finance flows. Priorities pro- liferated after 28 February with the US
John Kirton, director, G7 Research Group
T he G7’s 52nd annual summit will be hosted by France, for the second time at Évian, on 15–17 June 2026. It starts a new cycle of each member host- ing, led by France, which inaugurated G7 summits at Rambouillet in 1975. It is designed and chaired by French presi- dent Emmanual Macron, who delivered the G7’s Biarritz Summit in 2019 and who will be at his tenth summit since becom- ing president in 2017. Macron will again welcome US pres- ident Donald Trump, coming to his sixth summit and his second during his return to the US presidency in January 2025. European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen will also be at her sixth, and Italian prime minister Gior- gia Meloni at her third. Coming to their second summit will be Canadian prime minister Mark Carney, who hosted at Kananaskis last year, German chancel- lor Friedrich Merz. European Council president António Costa and UK prime
18 // G7 FRANCE: THE ÉVIAN SUMMIT 2026
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