38th G8 summit

The **38th G8 summit** was held at Camp David, Maryland in the United States on May 18-19, 2012.  The summit venue was moved from Chicago to rural Maryland in March 2012.

## History

The Camp David summit of the Group of Eight (G8) was the 38th meeting in a series which began in 1976.

Previous G8 summits have been hosted by the United States at San Juan, Puerto Rico (1976); Williamsburg, Virginia (1983); Houston, Texas, Denver, Colorado (1997) and Sea Island, Georgia.

The G8 and the summit are part of a consultation process.  The G8 is not an international organization. It is an informal group.

## Participants

The participants were the "core members" of the group:

|colspan=2|Member|Represented by|Title|
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
|colspan="4" style="text-align: center; background:Gainsboro"|**Core G8 members** <small>Host nation and leader are indicated in bold text.</small>|||
|Canada|Stephen Harper|Prime Minister||
|France|François Hollande|President||
|Germany|Angela Merkel|Chancellor||
|Italy|Mario Monti|Prime Minister||
|Japan|Yoshihiko Noda|Prime Minister||
|Russia|Dmitry Medvedev|Prime Minister||
|United Kingdom|David Cameron|Prime Minister||
|**United States**|**Barack Obama**|**President**||
|European Commission|Jose Manuel Barroso|President||
|European Council|Herman Van Rompuy|President||

### Invited leaders

A number of national leaders are traditionally invited to attend the summit.  They are asked to participate in some, but not all, G8 summit activities. The leaders of four African nations were invited by the US president:

- Yayi Boni, President

- Meles Zenawi Prime Minister

- John Atta-Mills, President

- Jakaya Kikwete, President

The G8 leaders talked about making progress towards food security in Africa.

Others were invited, including:

- African Development Bank, Donald Kaberuka, President

- African Union  Yayi Boni, Chairperson

- Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), Strive Masiyiwa, Chairman

## Schedule and Agenda

The summit is intended as a venue for resolving differences among the G8 members.

Traditionally, the host country of the G8 summit sets the agenda.

Discussions at the 38th G8 summit included some issues from previous summits.

The G8 discussions included a range of topics, including
- Energy
- Afghanistan
- Changes taking place across the Middle East and North Africa
- Climate change
- Food security
- Greece in the euro zone
- Iran’s nuclear energy plans
- Nutrition

## Protesters  and demonstrations

Planners anticipated protest groups and other activists.

When the venue for the summit was changed from Chicago, a White House spokesman said security and the possibility of protests were not factors in the decision.  Some protest groups took credit for the change of venue.

## Business opportunity

For some, the G8 summit was a profit-generating event; as for example, the _G8 Summit_ magazines which have been published since 1998.

Local businesses near Camp David are expecting more people in the area and profits because of the summit.

## Related pages

- List of G8 summits

## Other websites

- University of Toronto: G8 Information Centre
- US Dept. of State, G8 Summit 2012; Media Resources
- Tourism Council of Frederick County Maryland, Camp David summit
- Parliament.uk, Graphic shows G8 in context