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G7 Evian Summit Strengthens the Fight Against Illicit Finance
Denisse Rudich, G7 Research Group
June 18, 2026
The announcement of the US-Iran Memorandum of Understanding provided the good news needed to kick off what is likely to be the final G7 Summit to be hosted by French president Emmanuel Macron – which incidentally was also held when France won its first match 3–1 against Senegal in the United States on June 16 during the 2026 World Cup. President Donald Trump stayed until the end of the summit and engaged in lengthy conversations with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Every year, leaders of the world’s largest democracies meet to address issues of global concern and to set the global agenda. Those issues require convergence and coordination among like-minded partners. This year’s G7 was held against a backdrop of geopolitical conflict including wars in Iran and Ukraine, the latest Ebola outbreak, and economic imbalances linked to global oil shortages, on the one hand, and exponential technological innovation, on the other. Forums such as the G7 provide the opportunity for those who with the ability to set domestic priorities and allocate resourcing, build relationships and address issues with fellow decision makers, oftentimes cutting out months and maybe even years of diplomatic wrangling.
This year’s summit was set to address global imbalances and build partnerships among its themes but also focused on tackling illicit financial flows and organized crime, alongside sanctions and other criminal acts that generate or create an enabling environment for illicit financial flows. Initiatives related to illicit finance, organized crime, other forms of proceeds generating crimes and sanctions are detailed below.
In the Leaders’ Declaration on the Fight Against Drug Trafficking, leaders committed to intensify the fight against drug trafficking alongside partner countries Brazil and South Korea. They highlighted the impact of illegal networks that exploit international vulnerabilities, including “siphoning vital resources from our economies and weakening the democratic institutions.” G7 leaders pledged to take an evidence-based, whole-of-government approach to developing solutions to reduce both the supply and demand that drive drug trafficking, emphasizing the importance of international cooperation. The G7 committed to scale up coordinated actions “to prevent, investigate and prosecute all organized criminal groups” and to strengthen resilience. To that end, leaders pledged to “strengthen the global anti-money laundering architecture to prevent financial crime and improve enforcement and asset recovery outcomes, in line with the Financial Action Task Force standards.”
Additional initiatives linked to fighting drug trafficking are detailed below.
G7 leaders committed to disrupting the financial infrastructures that underpin organized crime networks. They stated that they would strengthen collective action in line with the G7 Financial Crime Call to Action. They explicitly recognized the link between drug trafficking and other forms of cross-border organized crime such as human trafficking, fraud, corruption, money laundering, terrorist financing, environmental crimes such as illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, and other sources of illicit financial flows. To that end, G7 leaders called on the application of the “follow-the-money” approach and pledged to strengthen financial investigations in order to trace, freeze, seize and confiscate illicit proceeds and assets. This includes those in the form of virtual assets. This will be underpinned by “robust and secure” information exchange between law enforcement, judicial authorities and financial intelligence units.
G7 leaders committed to taking action to strengthen maritime and port security by launching the G7+ Ports Network to Combat Drug Trafficking initiative by November 2026. This recognizes maritime transport as the key vector for the trafficking of drugs and precursor chemicals. The G7 will intensify efforts to increase cooperation and share information and best practices in order to intercept more shipments of illicit drugs. To that end, the G7 further committed to set up an Inventory of G7 Initiatives and Best Practices to Counter Drug and Precursor Chemical Trafficking in Ports. G7 leaders also cited the need to cooperate with the private sector.
G7 leaders tasked ministers to develop by November 2026 a G7 Action Plan to counter the infiltration of public and private institutions by organized criminal groups and drug trafficking networks which was identified as a key modus operandi used by transnational organized crime networks.
G7 leaders committed to work with partners to strengthen their collective approach to generate early warning systems on drug consumption and trafficking through the creation or strengthening of national drug observatories. They encouraged action to disrupt and dismantle drug and arms trafficking networks at the Regional Security Conference in the Caribbean and pledged to support international organizations including Interpol, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, the International Narcotics Control Board, the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs, and the European Coalition Against Drugs.
G7 leaders declared that they “will spare no effort” to decrease demand alongside health and social hams of drug use. This includes by raising awareness linked to public health initiatives while also supporting the ability raise awareness of and share knowledge on emerging drug-related threats, support for law enforcement and public health responses, and early warnings on new substance and consumption patterns.
In the Leaders’ Declaration on Tackling Migrant Smuggling, the G7 reaffirmed efforts to prevent and counter the smuggling of migrants. G7 leaders renewed their commitment to prevent, counter and dismantle organized crime networks and to disrupt their business models alongside partner countries including Kenya and South Korea. They further committed to tackling organized illegal migration and all forms of abuse and the exploitation of migrants, protecting refugees and forcibly displaced persons who are often the most vulnerable. They tasked their ministers to continue delivering the G7 Action Plan to Prevent and Counter the Smuggling of Migrants.
G7 leaders also indicated that they would continue issuing sanctions and restrictive measures targeting legal and natural persons involved in migrant smuggling including online. Recognizing the need for cooperation, they pledged to intensify cooperation with tech companies to detect, prevent and remove online content used to facilitate smuggling operations. They indicated that they would deepen cooperation with source and transit countries to dismantle smuggling and trafficking networks to prevent illegal migration but also to improve economic conditions to allow individuals to thrive in-country.
Given the strategic role of critical minerals value chains and to tackle illegal trafficking of critical minerals, among a host of other commitments, the G7 Leaders’ Declaration on Securing Supply Chains for Critical Minerals committed to working towards harmonized, interoperable mechanisms to ensure traceability and transparency of critical minerals, starting with the two pilot minerals of lithium and nickel. G7 leaders said that they would extend the pilot to five additional critical minerals each year, especially rare earths. They also pledged to better combat the illegal transfer of waste rich in critical minerals.
In Leaders’ Call on A Safer Digital Space for Minors, G7 leaders committed to providing “a safe digital space for our minors,” highlighting the important role played by digital service providers. In addition to sharing the benefits of digital services, leaders flagged risks such as exposure to illegal content and “attention maximizing features” that can lead to addiction. They called on digital service providers and providers of conversational artificial intelligence to make conversational AI tools safer. G7 leaders remain strongly committed to prohibiting the creation, manipulation and distribution of child sexual abuse material. This also extends to criminal activity linked to non-consensual intimate imagery of children and youth, including deepfakes. G7 leaders further stated that “the prohibition of such content as well as online grooming, sexual exploitation and sexual extortion, remains a non-negotiable principle in the development and deployment of artificial intelligence systems and digital service.” They stressed that some of these harms disproportionally affect girls and young women, boys and young men and can lead to self-harm. Leaders further committed to preventing and reducing the targeting of youth and children to violent extremism and terrorism online, as well as minimizing recruitment into organized crime for drug trafficking and violent extremism.
The following countries were discussed in the G7 Leaders’ Statement on Geopolitical Issues, which may lead to additional sanctions designations.
Ukraine – G7 leaders pledged their unwavering support for Ukraine and committed to increase pressure on the Russian war economy by issuing stronger sanctions targeting the oil and gas sectors as the Strait of Homuz opens.
Iran – G7 leaders welcomes the US-Iran deal, which “provides an historic opportunity” to stop Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons to addressing threats linked to ballistic missile activities.
Lebanon – G7 leaders supported an immediate and robust ceasefire to allow Lebanon to disarm Hezbollah.
North Korea – G7 leaders reaffirmed their commitment to the complete denuclearization of North Korea, called on North Korea to resolve the abductions issue, and will jointly address North Korea’s cybercrimes and theft of crypto assets.
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g7@utoronto.ca This page was last updated June 18, 2026. |
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