Originating from an ad hoc gathering of finance ministers in 1973, the G7 has since become a formal, high-profile venue for discussing and coordinating solutions to major global issues, especially in the areas of trade, security, economics, and climate change.

[5] While lacking a legal or institutional basis, the G7 is widely considered to wield significant international influence;[6] it has catalyzed or spearheaded several major global initiatives, including efforts to combat the HIV/AIDS pandemic, provide financial aid to developing countries, and address climate change through the 2015 Paris Agreement.

[8][9][10] The rise of BRICS+ for example, with its expanded membership and focus on South-South cooperation, reflects a broader shift in global power dynamics, with emerging economies gaining greater influence in international affairs.

French President Georges Pompidou abruptly died, leading to a fresh presidential election that was closely won by Valéry Giscard d'Estaing.

West German Chancellor Willy Brandt, American President Richard Nixon, and Japanese Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka all resigned due to scandals.

[18] Taking place at the Château de Rambouillet, the meeting focused on several major economic issues, including the oil crisis, the collapse of the Bretton Woods system, and the ongoing global recession.

[19] The result was the 15-point "Declaration of Rambouillet", which, among other positions, announced the group's united commitment to promoting free trade, multilateralism, cooperation with the developing world, and rapprochement with the Eastern Bloc.

[22] Since 2009, the then-newly established position of the President of the European Council, who serves as the Union's principal foreign representative, also regularly attends the summits.

[19] Russia was an outlier in the group, as it lacked the national wealth and financial weight of other members, and at the time was not an established liberal democracy.

[24][25] Its invitation, made during a difficult transition to a post-communist economy, is believed to have been motivated by a desire to encourage its political and economic reforms and international engagement.

The U.S.-based Atlantic Council has held the D-10 Strategy Forum since 2014 with representatives from what it calls "leading democracies" which support a "rules-based democratic order", consisting of all members of the G7 (including the European Union) plus Australia and South Korea.

Something of a spin-out of the G7, founded by members Canada and France, GPAI's initial membership was 15, including both the EU and India, as well as Australia, Mexico, New Zealand, Singapore, Slovenia, and the Republic of Korea.

[40] In 2021, French jurist and consultant Eric Garner de Béville, a member of the Cercle Montesquieu, proposed Spain's membership to the G7.

[46][47][48][49][50][51] Ronald A. Klain writing for the Carnegie Endowment, proposed creating the G9 by adding South Korea and Australia due to the Eurocentrism of the current alliance and rising challenges posed by China in Asia.

[52] The G7 was founded primarily to facilitate shared macroeconomic initiatives in response to contemporary economic problems; the first gathering was centered around the Nixon shock, the 1970s energy crisis, and the ensuing global recession.

At the 1999 summit, the group helped launch the G20, a similar forum made up of the G7 and the next 13 largest economies (including the European Union), in order to "promote dialogue between major industrial and emerging market countries";[58] the G20 has been touted by some of its members as a replacement for the G7.

[64] G7 finance ministers pledged to take "all necessary steps" to stem the crisis,[65] devising an "aggressive action plan" that included providing publicly funded capital infusions to banks in danger of failing.

[70] The group also announced its commitment to "mobilize rapid technical assistance to support Ukraine in addressing its macroeconomic, regulatory and anti-corruption challenges", while adding that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) was best suited to stabilizing the country's finances and economy.

Macron threatened to block a major trade deal between the European Union and Brazil (Mercosur) that would benefit the agricultural interests accused of driving deforestation.

Trump expressed dismay at Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for holding a press conference in which Canada restated its position on tariffs (a public criticism of Trump's economic policy), and directed his representatives at the meeting not to sign the economic section of the joint communiqué that is typically issued at the conclusion of the meeting.

[83] In the final statement signed by all members except the US, the G7 announced its intention to recall sanctions and to be ready to take further restrictive measures within the next months against the Russian Federation for its failure to completely implement the Minsk Agreement.