FACT SHEET: The G-7 Summit at Ise-Shima Japan

The President met with the other leaders of the G-7 in Ise-Shima, Japan on May 26-27 to advance major global economic and political priorities, guided by a set of common values including freedom, democracy, the rule of law, and respect for human rights.    

Promoting International Peace and Security 

In Ise-Shima, G-7 leaders recognized the challenges of persistent geopolitical conflicts and the rise of violent extremism.  The G-7 underscored its responsibility to lead international efforts to tackle these challenges and forge a path forward.

• Iraq:  G-7 leaders expressed support for Iraq, commended Iraqi forces’ efforts in the fight against ISIL/Da’esh, and confirmed their readiness to supplement a potential new International Monetary Fund (IMF) program by mobilizing more than $3.6 billion in bilateral and other direct budget assistance to Iraq, which will help unlock up to $18 billion in assistance for Iraq over three years. 
• Russia and Ukraine:  G-7 leaders expressed concern about continued violence in Ukraine and urged all sides to take concrete steps toward the complete ceasefire required under the Minsk agreements.  Leaders stressed that sanctions are linked to Russia’s complete implementation of the Minsk agreements and respect for Ukraine’s sovereignty. G-7 leaders stand ready to take additional measures should Russia’s actions so require.  G-7 leaders expressed support for recent Ukrainian reforms.
• Syria:  G-7 leaders condemned violations of the Cessation of Hostilities (COH), called on all parties to fully implement the COH, welcomed the commitment of the International Syria Support Group to help ensure parties stop indiscriminate attacks, and called on the Syrian regime to allow humanitarian agencies access in Syria.  G-7 leaders also reaffirmed their commitment to political transition and to working towards long-term, post-conflict stabilization and rehabilitation of Syria.
• Countering Terrorism and Violent Extremism (CT/CVE):  G-7 leaders took steps to increase information sharing to bolster border and aviation security; strengthen coordination of capacity-building assistance to partner countries through entities such as the Global Counterterrorism Forum's International CT/CVE Clearinghouse Mechanism; and deepen cooperation on countering the financing of terrorism.
• Maritime Security:  G-7 leaders reiterated their commitment to a rules-based order at sea, peaceful dispute settlement, and respect for freedom of navigation and overflight.  G-7 leaders also reaffirmed the importance of states’ making and clarifying their claims based on international law; refraining from unilateral actions; not using force or coercion; and seeking to settle disputes by peaceful means including through juridical procedures.

Responding to the Global Displacement Crisis

With displacement approaching levels not seen since the Second World War, G-7 leaders recognized the global nature of the crisis and affirmed the need to humanely and effectively manage displacement.  G-7 leaders committed to bolster global refugee and host community assistance and welcomed efforts to strengthen long-term global capacity and effectiveness to respond to crises.  To this end, G-7 leaders asked the World Bank to develop a global crisis response platform that will assist host states in providing sustainable livelihoods and education for both refugee populations and their communities.  The platform will help advance the objectives of the President’s Summit on Refugees that will be held on the margins of the UN General Assembly in September.

Achieving Strong, Sustainable, and Balanced Global Economic Growth

While U.S. businesses have added 14.6 million jobs over a record 74 consecutive months of job growth, global economic growth remains moderate and uneven.  G-7 leaders committed to implementing fiscal policy flexibly to strengthen growth, job creation, and confidence.  The G-7 stands ready to deploy robust policy responses to bolster short and longer-term growth as necessary.  G-7 leaders reiterated their commitment to using all policy tools to strengthen global demand and address supply constraints.  In addition, G-7 leaders reaffirmed their exchange rate commitments, including close consultation on actions in foreign exchange markets and not targeting exchange rates. 

G-7 leaders also noted their intent to promote quality infrastructure investment, including through effective resource mobilization in partnership with the private sector.  To this end, President Obama has put forward a bold plan for a 21st Century Clean Transportation System that boosts growth while reducing carbon pollution.  The United States has also been promoting infrastructure investment through the Build America Investment Initiative, a plan to encourage public-private partnerships and private investment.

Leveling the Playing Field for International Trade and Investment

G-7 leaders underscored their commitment to using trade to create economic opportunity for their worker and firms, noting that trade is a key driver of growth and prosperity.  Since G-7 leaders last met, the United States, Canada, and Japan have worked with 9 other countries to conclude negotiations on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).  G-7 leaders encouraged each TPP signatory to complete its domestic process to bring the agreement into force.  In addition, the United States and the European Commission committed to applying the necessary political will to reach an ambitious, comprehensive and mutually beneficial Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership Agreement (T-TIP) as early as this year.

• Addressing Global Industrial Excess Capacity:  G-7 leaders recognized that global excess capacity across industrial sectors, especially steel, is having a negative impact on G-7 economies and workers.  G-7 leaders committed to quickly taking steps to address this issue, including through coordinated actions that seek to eliminate subsidies and other policies that contribute to excess capacity.  G-7 leaders called on their respective policy experts to coordinate actions, working with other countries affected by this issue.  The United States has begun coordinating efforts to address excess capacity with the G-7 and other major steel producers.  The United States is currently enforcing 149 anti-dumping and countervailing duty orders involving foreign steel imports.
• Environmental Goods Agreement (EGA):  The United States and other G-7 members are part of a broader negotiation on an agreement to eliminate tariffs on environmental goods.  G-7 leaders announced their aim to conclude an ambitious EGA ahead of the G-20 Summit in Hangzhou in September 2016.
• Moving Forward at the World Trade Organization (WTO):  G-7 leaders underscored the critical importance of the rules-based global trading system as embodied by the WTO.  G-7 leaders discussed moving forward at the WTO to address outstanding and new issues and called on all WTO members to engage constructively and with a sense of urgency.  G-7 leaders also called for the entry into force of the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement by the end of 2016, which will eliminate bureaucratic delay for merchandise shipped around the world.

Enhancing Financial Transparency and Tackling Corruption

Reflecting their common values of fairness and the rule of law, and in order to promote strong economic growth and sustainable development, the G-7 leaders reaffirmed their aim to enhance financial transparency, combat tax evasion, and tackle corruption. As the G-7 recognizes the continuing need to foster public confidence in tax systems, the United States will continue to show leadership in this area.

• Enhancing Financial Transparency and Combating Illicit Finance:  G-7 leaders reiterated the importance of improving the transparency of the beneficial ownership of legal entities to prevent misuse of these entities for corruption, tax evasion, terrorist financing, and money laundering.  The actions announced by President Obama on May 6 to bolster the transparency of beneficial ownership information in the United States represented a significant step forward.  The United States also continues to work in the G-7 and G-20 to support the Financial Action Task Force.
• Advancing the International Anti-Corruption Agenda:  G-7 leaders pledged continued action on:  promoting practical cooperation between countries on asset recovery cases; building capacity in countries vulnerable to corruption; and supporting the work of civil society, the private sector, and journalists to contribute to anti-corruption reform and expose corruption and bribery.

Promoting Stability, Innovation, and Growth in Cyberspace

G-7 leaders committed to support an open, secure, and reliable cyberspace that promotes economic growth and prosperity.  Leaders reaffirmed their commitment to support stability in cyberspace by promoting the application of international law to state behavior in cyberspace, voluntary norms of responsible state behavior in peacetime, and close cooperation against malicious cyber activity.  The G-7 reiterated its commitment to protect the same human rights online as offline.  Leaders also recommitted to work together on the cybersecurity of critical infrastructure.

The G-7 leaders also addressed issues key to the growth of the digital economy.  Leaders emphasized the importance of the free flow of data and their opposition to unjustifiable data localization requirements.  The G-7 also committed to support transparent policy and legal frameworks and to promote international standards for technology products.  They emphasized the importance of protecting intellectual property rights, opposed generally applicable requirements for access to source code as a condition of market access, and reaffirmed that states should not conduct or knowingly support the cyber-enabled theft of intellectual property for commercial gain.  Further, leaders committed to promote a multi-stakeholder approach to Internet governance.  Finally, the G-7 committed to improve global access to the Internet, which aligns with the objective of the U.S.’s Global Connect Initiative to bring another 1.5 billion people online by 2020.

Addressing Climate Change, Protecting the Environment, and Strengthening Energy Security

G-7 leaders recognized the historic adoption of the Paris Agreement in 2015 and reaffirmed their commitment to address climate change.  To maintain momentum, G-7 leaders committed to taking the necessary steps to secure ratification, acceptance, or approval of the agreement as soon as possible, and called on all parties to do so, striving for a goal of having the agreement enter into force in 2016.  Currently, 40 countries representing 50 percent of emissions have either joined the Agreement or have committed to work to join this year, putting implementation within reach in 2016.  G-7 leaders also committed to complete mid-century low-emission development strategies well ahead of 2020. 

In addition, G-7 leaders reaffirmed their commitment to the elimination of inefficient fossil fuel subsidies, and called on all countries to do so by 2025 – the first announcement of a target date to achieve the goal originally outlined by the G-20 in 2009.

• Leading in International Fora:  G-7 leaders pledged to support the adoption of a Global Market-Based Measure to address aviation emissions in the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), and an amendment to address hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) under the Montreal Protocol.  The ICAO efforts aim to enable carbon-neutral growth in the civil aviation sector from 2020, while an HFC amendment would help shave up to half a degree off warming by the end of the century.  Leaders pledged additional support to the Montreal Protocol’s Multilateral Fund to help transition away from HFCs.
• Addressing Short-Lived Climate Pollutants:  G-7 leaders recognized the importance of mitigating emissions from other short-lived climate pollutants like methane and black carbon, and resolved to drive down methane emissions.  The Obama Administration has set an ambitious but achievable goal to cut methane emissions from the oil and gas sector by 40-45 percent from 2012 levels by 2025.
• Ensuring Nuclear Safety and Security:  G-7 leaders called upon all countries to ensure the highest standards of safety, security, and non-proliferation in nuclear energy programs.  Leaders also welcomed the successful outcomes of the fourth Nuclear Security Summit on March 31-April 1 in Washington.

Advancing Global Health and the Global Health Security Agenda

Recognizing the continued threat posed by diseases such as Zika, and determined to learn the lessons of the Ebola crisis, the G-7 leaders addressed a wide-ranging health agenda in Ise-Shima.  This included committing concrete assistance to strengthen country capacity to address infectious disease threats; reinforcing the global health architecture to strengthen the response to public health emergencies; moving towards the goal of universal health coverage; and combating antimicrobial resistance.

• Advancing the Global Health Security Agenda:  G-7 leaders reinforced support for a coordinated approach to assist 76 countries and regions build the capability to prevent, detect and respond to infectious disease threats.  The G-7 will offer to assist partners in developing national plans, and will measure progress according to the targets of the Joint External Evaluation (JEE) tool published by the World Health Organization, which includes each of the targets of the Global Health Security Agenda launched by President Obama in 2014.  In preparing for health emergencies, G-7 leaders committed to undergo and share the results of JEEs.  The United States is committed to assist at least 31 of the 76 partners to develop national plans, and is currently undergoing a JEE.
• Supporting Replenishment of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria (Global Fund):  G-7 leaders expressed their support for a successful 5th replenishment of the Global Fund and called on traditional and new donors to support replenishment as well.  Growing out of discussions at the G-8 summit in 2000, the Global Fund has saved an estimated 17 million lives since its inception in 2002.
• Addressing Antimicrobial Resistance:  G-7 leaders made a renewed commitment to address the global health threat posed by antimicrobial resistance.  Leaders highlighted the need to build country capacity for surveillance and training in judicious use of antibiotics and to preserve the utility of existing remedies, while also discovering new ones, through a robust and coordinated set of approaches.

Advancing Women’s Empowerment and Gender Equality

G-7 leaders reaffirmed their commitment to gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls, and to the belief that women and girls are equal and indispensable agents of change in our societies.  G-7 leaders also affirmed the importance of promoting and protecting women’s rights and underlined the role of women as key actors to ensure peace and security.  The G-7 recognized that the role of women is critical to addressing challenges such as of violent extremism, the global displacement crisis, and protracted conflicts.  The G-7 also made specific commitments around empowering women and girls through education, promoting opportunities for women in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics, and advancing the Women, Peace, and Security agenda.

Promoting Sustainable Development

With the historic adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (2030 Agenda) and the Addis Ababa Action Agenda, 2015 marked a landmark year for development.  The G-7 resolved to make further efforts to implement its commitments.

• Implementing the 2030 Agenda:  Recognizing the universality of the 2030 Agenda, G-7 leaders reaffirmed their commitment to take ambitious steps to implement it domestically and continue to support implementation efforts by developing countries.  Leaders also affirmed their strong commitment to the timely implementation of the Addis Ababa Action Agenda adopted at the 2015 Financing for Development conference, which represents a consensus that achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) will require unlocking three streams of financing: the mobilization of domestic resources; private sector investments; and official development assistance and other international public finance flows.  Leaders reaffirmed the essential role that official development assistance and international public finance play as catalysts for, and complements to, other sources of financing for development.  To that end, the United States is a founding member of the Addis Tax Initiative.  As part of this collective effort, the United States has committed to significantly increase its technical assistance for tax and fiscal management capacity building in developing countries, in order to help strengthen developing countries’ capacity to mobilize and effectively use domestic resources to achieve the SDGs and finance their own development.  G-7 leaders noted their commitment to the principles outlined in the Addis Tax Initiative.
• Strengthening Food Security and Nutrition:  G-7 leaders mapped out concrete next steps to promote global food security and nutrition.  The United States will support these efforts through Feed the Future, the President’s global hunger and food security initiative launched in 2010.  In addition, recognizing the importance of data to achieving global food security and nutrition goals, the G-7 acknowledged the importance of the Global Open Data for Agriculture and Nutrition (GODAN) initiative, which makes agricultural and nutritional data available globally.