The G7, or Group of Seven, is an international forum that brings together the leaders of the world's seven largest advanced economies - Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States. The G7 countries are the world's leading industrial and financial powers, which means that their policies are often geared toward supporting global capitalism and protecting the interests of big business and economic elites by forging politico-economic alliances, including through war and repression of the masses.
The economic policies promoted by the G7 deliberately represent and mask the interests of the ruling class as if they were those of the entire nation. We are witnessing the usual rhetoric about change without any real action or with action only for the interests of the ruling class. The G7 offers much rhetoric on issues such as sustainability and climate justice, but concrete actions in this direction are almost entirely absent. The proposed measures do not address the economic structures that perpetuate the climate crisis but aim to protect this parasitic system.
As every year, one of the member states would take over the leadership of the Group in rotation. This year Italy is hosting the Group of Seven summit hosted by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in Borgo Egnazia. In Venice, demonstrators preceded by a banner reading 'No to the G7 of Injustice' and 'free Palestine' were repelled as they tried to break through the security cordon to reach the G7 Justice Summit area [1]. In Puglia, climate activists from Extinction Rebellion chained themselves to the gate of the G7 media center to protest the lack of action in climate change policy [2].
The activist actions mentioned often damage the cohesion of the labor movement, unintentionally reinforcing the power of elites. These organizations and activist groups carry out actions that normally find dissent among the population, and instead of engaging the working masses in struggling for their own class interest, they often alienate them. In spite of their "good intentions," these groups increasingly draw people away from the revolutionary path, rather than engaging them, because of provocative actions.
Even when their action is popular these groups fail to recognize the real causes of the climate crisis and how it's linked to the rising cost of living, both rooted in capitalism. They don't aim to launch a genuine campaign against these causes, nor do they strive to connect deeply with the masses, especially workers in the energy sector and the broader labor movement. They avoid the difficult and unglamorous task of raising class consciousness, and educating workers about the system they live under and their role within it.
Rather than explaining to energy sector workers that it is their surplus value - their labor - that creates the wealth of energy capitalists (the same wealth used to control the state, and secure oil and gas licenses, subsidies, and tax breaks), these eco-activists mislead the workers they haven't already alienated. They use phrases about "political non-partisanship," indulge in emotional media spectacles, and push for reforms within the existing property relations and political hierarchy. This reactionary tendency accomplishes nothing at best and undermines the real progress of the workers and communist movements at worst.
Only the expropriation of private ownership of the means of production is capable of radically overturning socio-economic structures and, consequently, achieving true environmental sustainability and an ecologically balanced future. Consequently, we reveal that the annual meetings of the G7 are occasions to address global issues by representing not the interests of each of the participating nations (which themselves are divided by class), but the interests of the international bourgeoisie, i.e., the capitalist class that holds control of the means of production and accumulates wealth at the expense of the working class. Such change can only be implemented by a genuine Communist Party, which acts as the vanguard of the proletariat, operates according to a unified theory, maintains discipline and promotes political consciousness among the working masses.
Sources:
[1] tg24.sky.it - “G7 Giustizia, scontri tra polizia e manifestanti a Venezia” dated May 9, 2024;
[2] euronews.com - “Extinction Rebellion protesters chain themselves up outside G7 summit” dated May 15, 2024.