G8 Summit 2009

April

• 16 Thu
• Conference for Nuclear Disarmament "Overcoming Nuclear Dangers" – Roma (1^st day)

  • The Overcoming Nuclear Dangers conference on nuclear disarmament is organised by the Italian Foreign Ministry in conjunction with the US Nuclear Threat Initiative and the World Political Forum and is to be held at the Farnesina on 16 and 17 April. Its goal is to foster dialogue on the “vision” of a nuclear weapon-free world and on the roads to be embarked upon to reduce the nuclear threat. The conference will be attended by over 70 delegates, including former government ministers, senior civil servants and experts from over 20 countries and six continents. The proceedings will be opened by Italian Interior Minister Roberto Maroni and will be distributed over three panels. Panel One will focus on the destabilising aspects of transnational organised crime.

• 17 Fri
• Conference for Nuclear Disarmament "Overcoming Nuclear Dangers" – Roma (2^nd day)

  • Day two of the conference will comprise two panels addressing the social, economic and ideological factors that contribute to destabilisation and the  political and strategic factors that fuel transnational threats.
    Commissioner Benita Ferrero Waldner, Arab League Secretary General Moussa and National Mafia Prosecutor Piero Grasso will be speaking. Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini will be giving the concluding address.

• 18 Sat
• Agriculture Ministers' Meeting – Cison di Valmarino, Treviso (1^st day)

  • The first G8 summit devoted to agriculture sets out to identify a joint strategy for addressing price spirals and limiting the impact of future world food emergencies. The meeting is to be held in Cison di Valmarino, in the Province of Treviso, from 18 to 20 April and is to be attended by the minister of agriculture from the Czech Republic, in his capacity as EU Council duty president, EU Agriculture Commissioner Marianne Fischer Boel and the Brazilian, Chinese, Indian, Mexican, South African, Egyptian, Australian and Argentine agriculture ministers in addition to those from the G8 countries. Invitations have also been extended to the heads of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the World Food Programme (WFP), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the World Bank, the High-Level Task Force on Food Security, the African Union and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
    The first day’s proceedings will open with a preliminary meeting of the G8 agriculture ministers, which will be followed in the afternoon by an extended meeting taking in the G8, G5, Argentina, Australia and Egypt.

• 19 Sun
• Agriculture Ministers' Meeting – Cison di Valmarino, Treviso (2^nd day)

  • Day Two of the agriculture ministers’ meeting will take the form of a session in G8, European Commission and Czech EU duty presidency format. This will be followed by a tour of the March of Treviso. An informal session devoted to the international organisations is scheduled for the afternoon.

• 20 Mon
• Agriculture Ministers' Meeting – Cison di Valmarino, Treviso (3^rd day)

  • A plenary session – G8, G5, Argentina, Australia and Egypt, EU Commission, EU Presidency, World Bank, FAO, IFAD, OECD, WFP, United Nations High-Level Task Force and African Union – is on the agenda for the morning of Monday, 20 April.
    It will be followed by a final joint press conference.
    

• 22 Wed
• Environment Ministers' Meeting – Siracusa (1^st day)

  • Fighting climate change and conserving biodiversity are the main topics for the environment ministers’ meeting, which is to be held in Syracuse from 22 to 24 April. In addition to the G8 countries’ ministers, their opposite numbers from the Czech Republic, as European Union duty president, and the European Commission will also be attending. The meeting is extended to the representatives of China, India, Brazil, Mexico, Indonesia, South Africa, Australia, the Republic of Korea and Egypt. Denmark, which is to host the United Nations Conference on the Climate next December, has also been invited. A number of international organisations and representatives from civil society will also be present.
    The proceedings will commence on the morning of 22 April with a meeting with the non-governmental organisations’ representatives. This will be followed, in the afternoon, by a debate on the opportunities for fostering economic recovery held out by technological innovations and on how to promote clean energy technologies so as to take up the dual challenges of climate change and energy security.

• 23 Thu
• Environment Ministers' Meeting – Siracusa (2^nd day)

  • The second session of the environment ministers’ meeting is given over to an examination of the various ‘post-Kyoto’ options ahead of the United Nations Conference on the Climate in Copenhagen. The meeting will provide an opportunity to ponder ways of reconciling the financial pledges needed to stabilise the markets and the investment programmes needed to cut emissions.
    The agenda for the afternoon of 23 April, the third session, features a discussion of the latest prospects for biodiversity ahead of 2010, International Biodiversity Year.

• G8 Business Summit – Santa Margherita di Pula, Cagliari (1^st day)

  • G8 Business is a forum for businesses in the G8 group of countries.  The third edition is to be held this year in Santa Margherita di Pula in the province of Cagliari, Sardinia, on 23 and 24 April.
    The issues on the agenda of the talks will include:  the impact of the economic and financial crisis, freedom of trade and investment, and the struggle against climate change.  Italian Confindustria employers' federation Chair Emma Marcegaglia and Ambassador Giampiero Massolo, Foreign Ministry Secretary General and Italy's G8 Sherpa, will be opening the forum in the Forte Village resort with a private session.

• “Destabilizing Factors and Transnational Threats” Conference - Roma (1^st day)

  • The Italian G8 Presidency is to host a conference on "Destabilizing Factors and Transnational Threats" at the Farnesina on 23 and 24 April.  The aim of the meeting is to come up with suitable responses on how to address the phenomena that threaten global security, with trafficking in arms and in human beings heading the list.  These are destabilizing factors of a transnational nature that constitute a serious threat worldwide.

• 24 Fri
• Environment Ministers' Meeting – Siracusa (3^rd day)

  • The Environment G8’s third day opens with a fourth session on “Children’s Health and the Environment.”
    It will be followed by a presentation of the meetings’ conclusions and the final press conference.

• G8 Business Summit – Santa Margherita di Pula, Cagliari (2^nd day)

  • The second day of the G8 Business Summit will comprise three working sessions on the impact of the economic and financial crisis, freedom of trade and investment, and the struggle against climate change.  Summing up will be Confindustria Chair Emma Marcegaglia.  The final news conference is scheduled to be held at 16:30.

• “Destabilizing Factors and Transnational Threats” Conference - Roma (2^nd day)

  • The Environment G8’s third day opens with a fourth session on “Children’s Health and the Environment.”
    It will be followed by a presentation of the meetings’ conclusions and the final press conference.