ETTG Roundtable G7 Development Ministers Meeting

Experts welcome joint G7 communiqué, but regret the weaker commitment to development cooperation and the sidelining of Agenda 2030.

IDOS Deputy Director Dr Axel Berger joined a European Think Tanks Group (ETTG) Roundtable reflecting on the Meeting of G7 Development Ministers in May. For the first time since 2024, G7 members agreed on a joint communiqué, something which is noteworthy in and of itself. However, this has come with the cost of a notable narrowing of development cooperation, with no mention of the Agenda 2030 or sustainable development, and toning down of ambitions on gender equality and climate. As development cooperation is transitioning from aid to mutually beneficial partnerships, it is still called upon to deliver on these standards necessary for sustainable transformation and for building trustworthy and credible cooperation architectures which can sustain the crises of our times. With the development sector shifting and changing, and many reform initiatives underway in parallel, the ETTG Meeting was aimed explicitly at creating synergies on France’s G7 priorities, Italy’s Mattei Plan for Africa, and the UK’s upcoming G20 Presidency.