Handover between Civil 7 2022 coordinators from Germany and 2023 in Japan
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The Civil 7 – Advocacy for Nuclear Disarmament toward the G7 Summit in Hiroshima
The Group of 7 (G7) and Civil Society Engagement
The Group of Seven (G7), an informal political forum of Canada, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Japan, and the United States, will be meeting in Hiroshima, Japan in May 2023. An important part of the G7 process is the dialogue with various interest groups, called Engagement Groups. Peace Boat is taking an active role in the Civil7 (C7), the Engagement Group representing positions from international civil society, particularly from non-governmental organisations. The C7 sees itself as a platform through which civil society organisations and actors worldwide can network in order to enter into a dialogue with the G7. The aim is to represent civil society interests regarding the G7 and to develop policy recommendations that will be included into the G7 summit decisions.
C7 offers all interested national and international civil society actors the opportunity to get involved in Working Groups and shape the process, including the composition of recommendations and demands for the G7. For 2023, the Working Groups are on the themes of Climate and Environmental Justice, Economic Justice and Transformation, Global Health, Humanitarian Assistance and Conflict, Open and Resilient Societies, and Nuclear Disarmament.
Advocacy for Nuclear Disarmament
There are about 13,000 nuclear weapons on Earth, endangering the lives of billions of people and environmental catastrophe. With multiple crises involving nuclear armed countries (from Ukraine to Kashmir), nuclear risks are higher than ever. As Prime Minister Kishida of Japan mentioned that the world is now facing the “biggest threat of nuclear weapon use since the Cold War”. This is the first time heads of state from the G7, will meet in Hiroshima. They cannot dare to leave without a plan to end nuclear weapons.
The C7 Working Group on Nuclear Disarmament aims to get a concrete declaration from the G7 leaders that the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons is unacceptable and illegitimate, and they plan to work for the elimination of nuclear weapons. This working group will discuss topics such as the abolition of nuclear weapons, humanitarian aspects of nuclear weapons, assistance towards the victims of nuclear weapons, and the budget and resources allocated on nuclear weapons.
Together with the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), Peace Boat is serving as coordinator of this Working Group. We invite relevant organisations to contribute to the development of recommendations to be presented to the G7. A series of consultation meetings in different time zones, in both English and Japanese language, will be held between January-March 2023.
With Russia’s threats to use nuclear weapons against anyone intervening in the Ukraine conflict, responses from other governments that imply possible retaliation with nuclear weapons, commentary and analysis examining scenarios in which nuclear weapons might be used, military exercises involving nuclear weapons, and testing of nuclear-capable ballistic missiles, the idea of using nuclear weapons is being normalized, and the decades-old taboo against their use is being eroded. We believe that the risk of nuclear conflict is now as high as it has ever been. The G7 cannot remain silent on this issue, and neither shall we.
Get Involved
To see the latest information, learn more about how to get involved, and express your interest in joining the Nuclear Disarmament or other Working Groups, please visit the Civil 7 web site here: https://civil7.org/get_involved/