We don’t need any more useless G-7 summits

All for show: Group of 7 leaders pose for a photo overlooking the beach at the Carbis Bay Hotel in Cornwall at the start of the summit. Leaders from left, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, European Council President Charles Michel, President Biden, Japan’s Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Italy’s Prime Minister Mario Draghi, French President Emmanuel Macron, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. — AP

THE latest Group of 7 summit was a waste of resources. If it had to be held at all, it should have been conducted online, saving time, logistical costs and airplane emissions. But, more fundamentally, G-7 summits are an anachronism.

There was absolutely nothing at the G-7summit that could not have been accomplished much more cheaply, easily and routinely by Zoom. Online international meetings by politicians, parliamentarians, scientists and activists are important. They normalise international discussions.