Editorial

Italy is hosting the G8 Summit at L'Aquila for the next three days. Preparatory and intensive work for this annual meeting has been going on for months. Overshadowing it are, of course, Iran and the unravelling of peace hopes in the region, and the global international crisis that was on nobody's mind when eight of the world's most economically powerful countries met at the Hokkaido Toyako summit in Japan last year.

Much has changed since the first G7 meeting, which took place in France in 1975. Canada joined Germany, France, Britain, Italy, Japan and the United States the following year and Russia, the Soviet Union having imploded, in 1998. Russia assumed the Presidency for the first time in St Petersburg in July 2006.

Much will change in future as the G8 countries recognise that there is a need to bring in other powerful players - China, Brazil, India, Mexico and South Africa (the G5) - if this organisation is to remain relevant. Today's host, Silvio Berlusconi, opposed this in 2008; hardly likely he will change his mind this year. But even if this does not happen at L'Aquila, it is increasingly clear that expansion is the name of the game.

Mr Berlusconi has indicated his support for the idea that Egypt becomes associated with an outreach process that can no longer be ignored. And as if to provide further emphasis for the need of solidarity, the G8 is committed to placing the African continent on its international agenda's list of priorities. At this stage, however, countries outside the G8 will be invited participants rather than actual members. Much work with these participants was carried out well before the G8 leaders met this morning.

This attempt at dialogue and solidarity will no doubt meet with Pope Benedict's oft-repeated call for the rich nations to do something concrete about the real poverty that afflicts so many African countries; and which he will be highlighting in an encyclical Caritas in Veritate due to be published today.

Useless to discuss macro-subjects like climate change, energy, education, water, food and agriculture, nuclear energy, the global economy and the financial crisis without acknowledging the human problem of billions of people living in an unacceptable state of endemic poverty and minus any input from countries that have themselves been hard hit by the global crisis. If a drastic change in attitude on the part of the wealthy and powerful in favour of the poor and weak is to take place, the plight of the latter must be given its authentic voice.

Today, the leaders of the G8 at L'Aquila will meet alone. They will tick off the work that should have been carried out since last year's summit. They will assess whether the ambitious programme of work agreed to then has been accomplished, and how much of it was not seen through because of the recession.

Tomorrow the scene changes and there will be, one imagines, some hard talk between the G8 and the G5. On the third day the G8 and the G5 will have talks with African countries - after which the G8 leaders will meet alone, again, to come up with a final communiqué. L'Aquila will not be an easy ride. There is much to be done and decided on, and these are not the best of times.

Perhaps Mr Berlusconi's emotional choice of L'Aquila will cast its spell over the proceedings, a living-and-dead example that tragedy and catastrophe hit rich countries, too.