Topics of discussion focused around agricultural development and food, energy, trade and industrialization, and finances.

[4] The Summit occurred at a time when previously colonized countries were trying to establish themselves politically domestically and internationally.

[7] In pursuit of the Report's emergency programme, Mexican president José López Portillo and Austrian chancellor Bruno Kreisky, began the organization of the North–South Summit to start discussions between countries from the North and South.

[9] After the 1970s energy crises, the IMF and World Bank started using structural adjustment programs and other forms of neoliberal economic policies to assist in the development, mostly in the global South.

[9] While the effects of these policies are contested, critics believed growth in GDP and capital investment remained limited in many countries.

[10] Leaders in the global South like López Portillo built political will and an intellectual movement towards a New International Economic Order (NIEO) in the early 1970s.

[11] To make the NIEO into an international policy, some developing countries tried to implement a code of conduct for states in their economic relations through the United Nations.

[13] The Lima conference also called for the redistribution of industrial capacity to boost the current proportion of emerging nations.

[13] The G77 gained prominence in the United Nations General Assembly in the late 1960s and early 1970s, with many members forming part of the Non-Aligned Movement that did not openly side with the bi-polar political ideologies of the Cold War.

[15] Located geographically directly below the United States, Mexico had sustained diplomatic relations with the US, a global superpower, and had a history of domestic policies supporting lower socio-economic classes within the country.

[17] With President José López Portillo as a proponent of the NIEO and with the country's post-revolutionist climate, to gain prominence in the international sphere, Cancún became a politically strategic location for the summit.

[17] As a new resort city, the Mexican government wished to transform it to a global tourist destination and locating the Summit in Cancún provided necessary exposure and publicity.

The first meeting was planned by the foreign ministers of Mexico and Austria at the UN General Assembly's XXXV Session in September 1980.

[20] It was decided in the final statement from the preparation sessions that the conference would be political in character, informal in its processes, and not engage into negotiations but instead provide an opportunity for nations to voice their opinions.

[20] The decision to invite Bangladesh, Brazil, China, Guyana, Ivory Coast, Japan, the Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Great Britain, the United States, Venezuela, and the Soviet Union was made during the Vienna pre-meeting.

[22] American participation was seen as an essential component to the meeting as the United States provided more funds than any other nation.

[11] The G77 concerns included poor trade terms, declining currency values, and debt deficits, which they would discuss at the Summit.

[36][37] It was understood that the problem with food supply was distribution and concern for high levels of malnutrition, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa and South-east Asia, was raised.

[35] Countries in Africa that were economically affected by fluctuating raw material prices asserted the need for international agreements for its stabilization.

[35] The construction of a World Bank affiliate that would aid developing nations in building their own energy sectors was discussed.

[41] Lower income countries were unable or struggling to pay for the amount of oil needed for growth.

[40] Following the discussion, the conclusion from the co-presidents of the Summit mentioned that the energy crisis was a global issue, not just a North-South one.

[40] Despite the proposal from French President Mitterrand to establish an energy affiliate before the meeting, the agency was not created at Cancún.

[36] Participants developed strategies planned to direct food donations, support of agricultural production, financial and technological aid.

[37] Many attendees including Reagan, Thatcher, Zenko Suzuki, and others, spoke positively about the conference in the media, highlighting the progress the Summit made in global negotiations.

East-West tensions took precedence over North-South relations in the late 1980s therefore the issues concerning the development of the South brought up at Cancún did not resurface as much post-Summit.

[48] Based on the outcomes of the Summit, the Global North appeared more focused on wealth generation than addressing inequalities.

It is also the subject of story arc Nuclear Alert of the Franco-Belgian comic book series Buck Danny, published in 1983, 1984 and 1986.

"On the Creation of a New International Economic Order: Issue Linkage and the Seventh Special Session of the UN General Assembly."