President Obama launched the Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate Change, to facilitate candid dialogue among key developed and developing countries regarding efforts to advance clean energy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. For the new forum, President Obama invited the leaders of 16 major economies and the Secretary General of the United Nations to designate representatives to participate in a preparatory session at the U.S. Department of State that occurred on April 27–28 in Washington, D.C. This and other preparatory sessions culminated in a 17-nation MEF meeting, as part of the 35th G8 summit which Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi agreed to host in La Maddalena, Italy in July 2009. The G8 summit was subsequently moved to L'Aquila, Italy, as part of an attempt to redistribute disaster funds after the 2009 L'Aquila earthquake. The forum took place on July 9, 2009.