Everything you need to know about the G8 and G20 in under 2 minutes.

Alright, so what is the G8?

The Group of Eight brings together senior officials and heads of state and government from Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States, to collaborate on matters of common interest.  The European Union functions as a ninth member, with most of the same privileges and obligations as the eight nations.

What does it do?

Member states take turns hosting an annual summit of the leaders, with an agenda  determined by the host nation.  International trade and economic growth have been the main focus since the group’s first meeting in 1975, and peace and security has been a close second.  In recent years aid, health, human rights and environment have also been key issues on the table.  Perspectives on those issues are shared between nations when they meet, and plans are sketched out for dealing with them.

And what is the G20, then?

The Group of Twenty is a similar forum, only with a broader and more economically varied slate of member nations, plus officials from global economic institutions including the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

Is it different from the G8?

Initially formed as a meeting of finance ministers and central bank governors, its mandate has been more explicitly to do with addressing economic policies and global financial stability.  After a decade of parallel operation, the G20 will likely replace the G8 following the smaller group’s 2010 summit in Canada.

Who’s in the G20?

Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, the European Union, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

What is the point of these Groups?

The group summits provide a forum to co-ordinate on global issues, and to foster the personal relationships between leaders which help them to co-operate in more difficult times.  Promises are made between nations, and to the rest of the world.

Who makes them keep their promises?

No-one does.  The promises are not binding,and there is a history of some G8 governments  not keeping their promises. But last year the G8 began working on an accountability mechanism and they are expected to issue an accountability report at the Canadian G8 in June 2010. This was the result of public pressure. Is this going to work for us?

It can work for us only if we make them work for us.  A restricted group of affluent nations seeking to further their own economic values could very well sweep from the table the interests of those segments of the global population with less financial clout, but these conversations and collusions between powerful states are going to happen whether we trust them or not.  What we can do is demand the greatest transparency, accountability, and diversity of interests be served.

For that, we’ll need our place at the table.

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For more information on, and critical analysis of, the G8, please visit the Halifax Initiative website. For the G20, please visit the University of Toronto G20 Information Centre.