The L'Aquila Summit: day by day

On the first day of the summit, talks among the G8 leaders focused on the global economy and the financial crisis, environment and climate change, development and Africa, and foreign and security policy. The second day of the summit was devoted primarily to talks with the major emerging economies.

On the morning of 9 July 2009, a meeting took place between the G8 countries and the countries of what is now referred to as the G5 - Brazil, China, India, Mexico and South Africa. This meeting constituted the conclusion of the Heiligendamm Process, which had been launched by Chancellor Angela Merkel at the 2007 G8 Summit in Germany. The Italian G8 Presidency also invited Egypt's President Mubarak to attend the meeting as an additional guest. On the same day, a luncheon in the same G8+G5 format took place that included discussions with the heads of six major international organisations (the United Nations/UN, the International Labour Organization/ILO, the International Energy Agency/IEA, the International Monetary Fund/IMF, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development/OECD, the World Bank and the World Trade Organization/WTO).

The Major Economies Forum (MEF) - which includes the G8 and the G5, plus Australia, Indonesia and South Korea - then convened on the afternoon of 9 July 2009. These are the 16 countries with the highest levels of carbon dioxide emissions. Upon the initiative of the U.S. government under President Obama, the MEF focused primarily on preparations for the United Nations Climate Change Conference, which will be held in Copenhagen in December 2009. In addition, a one-hour discussion took place on the current status of the Doha Round of world trade talks. WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy also attended this latter discussion.

On 10 July 2009, a meeting first took place between the G8 heads of state and government and their African Outreach partners, which included Algeria, Angola, Egypt, Ethiopia, Nigeria Senegal, South Africa and the African Union (AU), which was represented by Libya (current holder of the AU Presidency) and Jean Ping (of the AU Commission). These talks were also attended by representatives from the UN, ILO, IEA, OECD, World Bank and WTO. A final meeting then took place on the issue of food security. A broad spectrum of participants were in attendance at this meeting, including the G8 countries; the G5 countries; Australia, Indonesia, South Korea, Denmark, the Netherlands, Spain and Turkey; the African outreach partners; the aforementioned international organisations; and other key international organisations such as the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), and the World Food Programme (WFP).