Munich was home to some of the world’s most powerful leaders. A crowd of thousands welcomed them with open arms.

Germany will host The G7 Meeting of the World’s Richest Nations. Demonstrators came with demands.

Florian Leiner, who plans to participate in demonstrations during the summit’s leader’s summit, stated that “I came here because the politics in the G7 countries is unjust and intransparent.”

Another crowd member demanded that the G7 make private creditors cancel their debts to the global south. A group behind her shouted about ending climate injustice.

Advertisement

Although the demands were diverse, there was one common theme: leaders must not forget about the health of the planet’s poorest citizens as they attempt to solve the most serious problems facing the world.

G7 is a group that includes Canada, France and Germany as well as Italy, Japan, Japan, the United Kingdom and the European Union.

Russia was removed from the G8 that was in place before 2014, following the annexation by Crimea.

Germany assumed the G7 presidency in 2005. It had originally planned that climate change would dominate the meeting at Schloss Elmau in the Bavarian Alps.

Then Russia invaded Ukraine, and leaders now face additional challenges such as war, food shortages, and securing energy supply.

Fears of fossil fuels

Climate is still on the agenda. However, campaigners worry that energy may be being prioritized over the environment because of limited supplies.

Russia’s recent decrease in gas supplies to Germany has prompted it to raise its alert level and warn it that it might not meet its winter storage targets.

It is one of the countries that coal will be needed to fill the gap.

“I am very concerned that the G7 leaders are using this summit to amplify their efforts to get into fossil energy.

Martin Kaiser, Greenpeace Germany’s executive director, stated that Putin needs to be able to eliminate fossil fuels as soon and transition to a phase of renewable energies. This will allow for more solidarity across the globe.

“A club of powerful and rich people”

Others in the crowd were concerned that the majority of power was being held by a few.

Judith wore a Boris Johnson mask as a face mask and stood next to Biden, Macron, and the other seven members of the group to challenge the concept of the club.

She stated, “I’m here to say that I believe the G7 is a club made up of very wealthy but powerful people and they don’t have the right set our standards for the rest of the world.”

As a small group of protestors fought with police, frustration boiled over after the march.

However, the tension was quickly subdued.

G7 leaders will no doubt be hoping that any differences over the next few hours will be dissolved just as quickly as they prepare for debates on the many crises facing the globe.