G8 Summit Research Articles

COVID-19 vaccine mandates: what are the current European public perspectives?

The article aims to elaborate on European policy choices for the prevention of SARS‑CoV‑2 contagion, with a close focus on the rules and regulations enacted in Italy so far. European states have ruled out generalized vaccination mandates but have so far preferred to exert a form of "moral suasion", through the introduction of a digital certificate which can only be granted to those who are vaccinated, cured of COVID-19 or tested negative through an antigen test in the previous 48 hours. Italy has applied this tool, dubbed "Green Pass", very rigorously: many daily activities, including going to work, are only allowed for those who have the certificate. A one-year Green Pass is issued after vaccination, although data show that vaccine protection may subside gradually over about six months; the cost of the antigen tests every 48 hours is to be borne by the patient. Testing the unvaccinated is essential to contain the spread of the infection, but it would have been more logical to mandate that all the unvaccinated undergo regular testing (for example every ten days), instead of imposing a test every 48 hours only to be allowed to engage in some activities. The authors stress that in order to minimize the risk of future possible pandemics, prevention strategies are needed, and poor countries need to be enabled to vaccinate their populations in order to prevent new variants from developing. The pledges made by world leaders in that regard during the recent G20 summit must therefore be honored, for the sake of global health that never in our lifetime has been so threatened.

Researching the problems of digital economy development as an indicator of the information society: potential threats and prospects

The object of the paper is peculiarities of digital economy development in the framework of informatization of socio-economic, socio-cultural relations. It contributes to the in-depth development of the noosphere, the emergence of new industries and a qualitative transformation of production and distribution relations. The paper examines the impact of digitalization on transformational changes in the economy. As noted at the 14th G20 Summit, the main goals of digitalization are the development of innovations, focused on the development of society 5.0, ensuring the free flow of data and at the same time solving problems, related to information security and the protection of intellectual property rights, as well as bridging the digital gap and promoting the digitalization of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises and the development of smart cities.
 The research methodology is based on theoretical and methodological analysis of the literature, statistical, comparative analysis, as well as synthesis, generalization and systems analysis.
 The study has revealed differences between the national approach and world experience in the interpretation of digitalization. For instance, in Ukraine the phenomenon involves, first of all, «digitization» in the field of data collection and analysis. At the same time, the concept of digitalization in developed countries is considered as the modernization of the manufacturing sector based on the implementation of information and communication technologies in order to reduce the capital and material intensity of products to increase competitiveness. In addition, the level of development of central bank digital currencies (CBDC) as one of the indicators of the information society has been analyzed. As a result, it was found, that about 80 % of all central banks in the world have been working on projects to issue their own digital currency. The basic requirements for national CBDC have been systematized.
 The practical significance, presented in the paper, lies in making recommendations for policy implementation of national economy digitalization. It is important, first of all, to «digitize» the real manufacturing sector, but not only create all sorts of «remote access services», clearly define the government position on cryptocurrencies and continue to implement the project of e-hryvnia (digital currency of National Bank of Ukraine) introduction.

The G7 Summit 2021: time for our world leaders to step up to the challenge of antimicrobial resistance.

Microbiology Society journals contain high-quality research papers and topical review articles. We are a not-for-profit publisher and we support and invest in the microbiology community, to the benefit of everyone. This supports our principal goal to develop, expand and strengthen the networks available to our members so that they can generate new knowledge about microbes and ensure that it is shared with other communities.

An Analysis of COVID-19 Cases in G20 Countries and History of Previous Pandemics

This research paper focusses on the recent impact of Covid-19 on the G20 countries on basis of the number of cases and the number of deaths in several aspects. This paper also provides a brief history of the previously occurred pandemics and epidemics. A statistical analysis was conducted for 19 countries of the G20 assembly and presented in the paper. This topic was chosen in interest of recent events of the Covid-19 pandemic and its extensive effect on the world at large. The dataset consisting of records from nineteen countries was chosen as a part of the analysis. Apart from being involved in the G20 summit, these countries are looked upon by other countries of the world due to their economic and overall development. Further, past history of some pandemics and epidemics were taken into study

An Analysis of COVID-19 Cases in G20 Countries and History of Previous Pandemics

This research paper focusses on the recent impact of Covid-19 on the G20 countries on basis of the number of cases and the number of deaths in several aspects. This paper also provides a brief history of the previously occurred pandemics and epidemics. A statistical analysis was conducted for 19 countries of the G20 assembly and presented in the paper. This topic was chosen in interest of recent events of the Covid-19 pandemic and its extensive effect on the world at large. The dataset consisting of records from nineteen countries was chosen as a part of the analysis. Apart from being involved in the G20 summit, these countries are looked upon by other countries of the world due to their economic and overall development. Further, past history of some pandemics and epidemics were taken into study.

BLUETOOTH LOW ENERGY (BLE) FOR TRACKING AND DATA ANALYTICS TOWARDS MICE HYBRID VISITORS IN THE NEW NORMAL COVID-19 ERA

MICE (Meeting, Incentive, Conference, Exhibition) has shown a significant promise in its industry growth by virtue of its usage in some Indonesia’s big events, such as the 2018 G20 Summit held in Bali. MICE is important for seeing the visitors at a different angle, such as having an insight on the most visited booth of the event, how long the visitors spend time in one booth, and so on. The need of an application on this research for tracking visitors will be high especially during this Covid-19 pandemic. Therefore, to support the Indonesia economy recovery for years to come, especially on the MICE, a visitor tracking application is developed and tested. The purpose of this research is to develop algorithm for measuring the distance between visitors and the visitor density of a certain area in real time. This algorithm is implemented in the MICE event’s visitor mobile tracking application which uses Internet of Things (IoT) and Big Data Analytics as their foundation to embrace the new normal. The six BLE Beacons were tested by a testing app developed using a Javascript framework called React Native. The app is used to capture the packet broadcasted by the Beacons. The app uses a third-party library developed by Kontakt.io. In conclusion, among 6 beacons have been tested, Digoo Bytereal iBeacon BLE 4.0 and DS Beacon V1.0 are the most versatile and will be used in the next experiments.

HOW DOES THE G20 SUMMIT AFFECT LAND MARKET? EVIDENCE FROM CHINA

We employ the difference-in-difference and synthetic control methods to investigate the capitalization effect of hosting the G20 Summit on land market, based on China’s land transaction dataset from 2011 to 2019. We find that hosting the G20 Summit has a significant positive effect on land prices in the host city, increasing land prices by over 22.6% compared to comparable cities. The impact of hosting the G20 Summit on land prices is larger in the post-G20 period than in the preparation period. Further, hosting the G20 Summit has heterogeneous and distributional effects on land prices. The capitalization effects of venue construction and transportation infrastructure upgrading on land prices are the main channels.

Ransomware: a growing geopolitical threat

Ransomware attacks have become a major geopolitical issue. The recent 2021 G7 summit in Cornwall issued a final communiqué calling on Russia to, “hold to account those within its borders who conduct ransomware attacks,” while also committing the G7 to collaborate in order, “to urgently address the escalating shared threat”.

Short-term gains and long-term challenges to learning from mega-event planning in the city of Genoa

ABSTRACT For decades, a mega-event strategy to urban development has been popular with developers and politicians as a way to deliver fast results that can help to regenerate areas of cities and boost a city’s global image. While this approach can deliver quick results in the short term, the literature has not yet investigated the lasting affects this has at an institutional level on city planning and decision-making processes over the long term. One interesting case to investigate this phenomenon is the city of Genoa, which hosted three large events over a period of 12 years to regenerate the city centre and reconnect it to its de-industrialized waterfront. While the 1992 Expo, 2001 G8 Summit and 2004 European Capital of Culture significantly altered the urban fabric of the city centre, this paper will take a closer look at the new approaches and strategies decision makers implemented in the planning of these events, analysing whether they continued to utilize these planning tools and approaches following the events. The paper finds that while the city improved in its planning of events through the process of hosting the three events, it struggled to maintain such innovative approaches as part of routine practice post-event.

VOC Characteristics and Their Source Apportionment in the Yangtze River Delta Region during the G20 Summit

To evaluate the effectiveness of measures to reduce the levels of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which are important precursors of ground-level ozone formation, the real-time monitoring data of VOCs at the urban Zhaohui supersite (ZH), the Dianshan Lake regional supersite (DSL) and the urban Yixing station (YX) in the Yangtze River Delta region were analyzed from 23 August to 15 September 2016 during the G20 Hangzhou Summit. The average mole ratios of VOCs at the three sites were 6.56, 21.33 and 19.62 ppb, respectively, which were lower than those (13.65, 27.72 and 21.38 ppb) after deregulation. The characteristics of the VOCs varied during the different control periods. Synoptic conditions and airmass transport played an important role in the transport and accumulation of VOCs and other pollutants, which affected the control effects. Using the positive matrix factorization (PMF) method in source apportionment, five factors were identified, namely, vehicle exhaust (19.66–31.47%), plants (5.59–17.07%), industrial emissions (13.14–33.82%), fuel vaporization (12.83–26.34%) and solvent usage (17.84–28.95%) for the ZH and YX sites. Factor 4 was identified as fuel vaporization + incomplete combustion (21.69–25.35%) at the DSL site. The Non-parametric Wind Regression (NWR) method showed that regional transport was the main factor influencing the VOC distribution.

From Silos to Synergies: G20 Governance of the SDGs, Climate Change & Digitalization

How well and why have Group of 20 (G20) summits advanced Agenda 2030’s sustainable development goals (SDGs) in a synergistic way, with climate change and digitization at the core? An answer to this urgent, indeed existential, question comes from a systematic analysis of G20 summit governance of the SDGs, climate change and digitization to assess the ambition and appropriateness of advances within each pillar and the synergistic links among them. This analysis examines G20 governance of the SDGs, sustainable development, climate change and digitization across the major dimensions of performance and evaluates how performance has changed and become synergistic with the advent of the SDGs in 2015 and the shock of the COVID-19 crisis in 2020. The latter has shown the need to prevent global ecological crises and spurred the digitization of the economy, society and health. Yet, G20 summit governance has largely remained in separate silos, doing little to use the digital revolution to address climate change or reach the SDGs. This highlights the need for G20 leaders to forge links at their future summits by mainstreaming the SDGs and mobilizing the digital revolution and climate action for future health and well-being.

Vertical profiles and regional transport of ozone and aerosols in the Yangtze River Delta during the 2016 G20 summit based on multiple lidars

The G20 summit of 2016 was held from September 4–5, and a series of stringent emission reduction measures were taken in Hangzhou, an economically developed city in the Yangtze River Delta (YRD), and its surrounding regions. This study analyzed the vertical and regional pollutant distributions and their interactions in Hangzhou during the summit. The results show that the concentration of PM2.5 decreased and the concentration of ozone increased. The average hourly PM2.5 concentration decreased by 43.67% during the control period compared with afterward, and PM2.5 transport was mainly from southern part of Anhui and southeastern part of Zhejiang. There were four occurrences of heavy ozone pollution during the observation period, and the maximum value reached 130.56 ppb. Vertical and horizontal transport mainly occurred at a height of 1–2 km. The Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF-Chem) model demonstrated that the most severe ozone pollution was affected by the northeast wind, and the downdraft created a continuous high concentration of ozone pollution. The correlation between the ozone concentration and the aerosol extinction coefficient was negative below 0.84 km and positive around 0.84–2 km.

G20 summit menus as a means of gastrodiplomacy: Messages to the world via menus

This study has focused on how and for what purposes official menus are used as a means of gastrodiplomacy. The data were obtained using content analysis from the working lunch and official dinners menus of the G20 Summits in UK, South Korea, Turkey and Argentina. The focus group interviews were held to verify the content analysis findings and understand what these menus ingredients imply from diplomacy and gastronomy perspectives. This study revealed that menus with historical, geographical, cultural and economic contents were used as a means of diplomacy in the context of soft power by countries for various purposes. As a result, it has been understood that gastronomy as a very broad concept has features that can contribute to many disciplines and the menus and their contents are crucial means of gastrodiplomacy.

Contributors

Contributors

Suspect AI: Vibraimage, Emotion Recognition Technology and Algorithmic Opacity

Vibraimage is a digital system that quantifies a subject’s mental and emotional state by analysing video footage of the movements of their head. Vibraimage is used by police, nuclear power station operators, airport security and psychiatrists in Russia, China, Japan and South Korea, and has been deployed at two Olympic Games, a FIFA World Cup and a G7 Summit. Yet there is no reliable empirical evidence for its efficacy; indeed, many claims made about its effects seem unprovable. What exactly does vibraimage measure and how has it acquired the power to penetrate the highest profile and most sensitive security infrastructure across Russia and Asia? I first trace the development of the emotion recognition industry, before examining attempts by vibraimage’s developers and affiliates scientifically to legitimate the technology, concluding that the disciplining power and corporate value of vibraimage are generated through its very opacity, in contrast to increasing demands across the social sciences for transparency. I propose the term ‘suspect artificial intelligence (AI)’ to describe the growing number of systems like vibraimage that algorithmically classify suspects/non-suspects, yet are themselves deeply suspect. Popularising this term may help resist such technologies’ reductivist approaches to ‘reading’—and exerting authority over—emotion, intentionality and agency.

Private Markets, Infrastructure and Venture Capital in the Post-COVID Era: The Pension Perspective

This second of a series of seven papers co-authored by M. Nicolas J. Firzli and David Weeks looks at the notions of private markets – PE, VC, private debt and infrastructure – and the "quest for yields" in a low interest rates environment, which where discussed at two recent global conferences organised by the G7 Pensions Summit (G7 P7) and the Singapore Economic Forum (SEF). ESG, impact investing, renewable energy and the notion of green growth are also discussed by the co-authors and other experts, including the Hon. Nick Sherry, fmr. AUS minister of Superannuation & Corporate Law, Nick Silver, chairman, Climate Bonds Initiative (CBI), Michael Dennis, Head, APAC, Alternatives & Cap. Markets, BlackRock, Dr Guan Seng Khoo, Singapore Management University (SMU) and Ingrid Edmund, Columbia Threadneedle Investments (CTI)The notion of financial long-term-ism is considered from the perspective of institutional asset owners, notably in the US, Britain and the European Union (EU), where "pension fund regulation and the structure of the industry [often] puts a premium on liquidity and causes short-termism, at the expense of long-term investment and patient capital.”Australia has seen much interest in privatisation of public functions/assets. This has increased opportunities for private investment in infrastructure. It has, however, raised political discussion about the correct pricing of “monopoly assets”, such as large regional airports and water utilities.The authors also look at some of the recent developments in Canada, China, India and various ASEAN jurisdictions, including Singapore and assess the role played by the city-state in a complex period: "the COVID crisis has accelerated the mutually reinforcing effects of the Age of Empowerment (ESG, Equity and Entrepreneurship/the Venture Capitalist Ethos), the Age of Geoeconomics (intensifying Sino-American coopetition) and Datafied World Economy (Digitalization, Ai, Cybernetics), and Singapore is positioned precisely at the crossroads where these three powerful currents meet.”Some of the financial and geo-economic aspects of the "Post Brexit" era are also analysed. The authors note that HM Government has invited four key maritime powers to join the 47th G7 summit held in Carbis Bay, Cornwall later in the year: Australia, South Korea, India and South Africa, thus "bringing the blue economy to the fore of the global policy agenda".

Risk-contingent credit for sovereign disaster risk finance

After natural disasters, governments in developing countries often depend largely on humanitarian aid from donors and Development Finance Institutions (DFI). At the same time disaster affected developing countries repay public loans to donors and DFI (ODA loans). It is, hence, plausible to assume that risk contingent credit (RCC) which is widely discussed in agricultural and development economic literature might also bear potential for sovereign disaster risk finance. RCC allow a partial debt relief if ex ante defined risk events (e.g., natural disasters) occur. There would be especially potential for RCC if ODA loans are not risk-contingent. This study therefore tests for the countries of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) and based on panel data estimations with natural disaster, humanitarian aid, and public debt repayment data 1) if WAEMU countries depend on humanitarian aid after natural disasters, and 2) if in disaster years partial debt reliefs are granted with ODA loan repayments. The study finds that in disaster years WAEMU countries depend on humanitarian aid which is provided but with a slight delay after the natural disaster has occurred. Furthermore the study finds no evidence for natural disaster-related debt relief on ODA loan repayments in WAEMU countries. Hence WAEMU countries continue repaying ODA loans in disaster years whilst at the same time they receive humanitarian aid. The average ODA loan repayment in the investigated period for the WAEMU countries would be sufficiently high to provide WAEMU governments with enough means to respond to natural disasters. RCC could, hence, be an interesting disaster risk financing instrument for WAEMU countries. The development of disaster contingent financial instruments such as RCC was highlighted by the United Nations, the International Monetary Fund and also the 2018 G7 summit.

Characteristics and source attribution of PM2.5 during 2016 G20 Summit in Hangzhou: Efficacy of radical measures to reduce source emissions

A field campaign was conducted to study the PM2.5 and atmospheric gases and aerosol's components to evaluate the efficacy of radical measures implemented by the Chinese government to improve air quality during the 2016 G20 Summit in Hangzhou China. The lower level of PM2.5 (32.48 ± 11.03 µg/m3) observed during the control period compared to pre-control and post-control periods showed that PM2.5 was alleviated by control policies. Based on the mass concentrations of particulate components, the emissions of PM2.5 from local sources including fossil fuel, coal combustion, industry and construction were effectively reduced, but non-exhaust emission was not reduced as effectively as expected. The accumulation of SNA (SO42−, NO3−, NH4+) was observed during the control period, due to the favourable synoptic weather conditions for photochemical reactions and heterogeneous hydrolysis. Because of transboundary transport during the control period, air masses from remote areas contributed significantly to local PM2.5. Although, secondary organic carbon (OCsec) exhibited more sensitivity than primary organic carbon (OCpri) to control measures, and the increased nitrogen oxidation ratio (NOR) implied the regional transport of aged secondary aerosols to the study area. Overall, the results from various approaches revealed that local pollution sources were kept under control, indicating that the implementation of mitigation measures were helpful in improving the air quality of Hangzhou during G20 summit. To reduce ambient levels of PM2.5 further in Hangzhou, regional control policies may have to be taken so as to reduce the impact of long-range transport of air masses from inland China.

Understanding the impact of meteorology on ozone in 334 cities of China

The daily variations of near-surface ozone (O3), one of the major air pollutants in China, depend on meteorological conditions. In this study, we analyzed the characteristics of O3 pollution and the complicated interactions among the controlling meteorological factors. In China, O3 pollution is becoming severe and high-concentration areas are expanding greatly. We found that O3 was correlated to numerous meteorological variables including air pressure, temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, wind direction, sunshine duration, evaporation, and precipitation. Using generalized additive models (GAMs), we developed predictive models to forecast the maximum daily 8 h O3 mass concentration for 334 cities in China. Different cities were influenced by different meteorological variables, with temperature (90.77%), relative humidity (68.15%), and sunshine hours (66.96%) being the top three influencing factors. In addition, we found that the influence of these meteorological factors on O3 pollution was nonlinear and impacted by the interaction between variables. Considering individual relationships between each meteorological factor and O3, the average coefficient of determination (R2) of GAMs for the 334 cities was 0.64 ± 0.16. However, considering the interaction between variables, the average R2 for 334 cities of revised GAMs increased to 0.72 ± 0.15. The R2 was significantly improved in 96.72% of the cities after considering the interactions among the meteorological factors based on a ten-fold cross-validation method. Furthermore, we found that the GAM residuals were unbiased. As an example of using and interpreting the GAM results, we focused on a case study in Hangzhou during the G20 summit in 2016. During this period, nitrogen oxides (NOx) and volatile organic compounds were reduced by 51.67% and 49.00%, respectively, because of local emission controls. Despite these changes in precursor emissions, O3 changed slightly during this period, suggesting that O3 in Hangzhou at the time was not controlled by local precursor emissions, but was impacted by meteorological conditions.

G7 summit – analysis of decisions taken to step up on climate change challenge

Research background: After the summit of G7 held in the United Kingdom, important decisions regarding future actions against global warming were taken. Some of them were appreciated by the environmental supporters but many others tend to have a different view, especially because of lack of details. Purpose of the article: In this article, we will analyse what are the measure proposed by the most powerful and developed countries, members of G7, what is the position of the other big countries (China and Russia) that were not invited, and how this could really contribute to the saving environment progress. Methods: Through descriptive and comparative analysis the paper reveals the financial and technical difficulties to implement these decisions and how they can contribute to a better environment and achieve the COP 21 objective. Findings & Value added: The stress caused by the Covid-19 pandemic in all economies didn’t cancel the engagement of countries taken in Paris, to limit the rise of global temperatures to 1.50C comparing to the preindustrial era. The United States even came back on track and, generally speaking, it appears that there is a stronger will to take concrete actions.