Does the G8 serve a useful purpose any more? President Obama, for one, is unsure. The annual summit of the industrialised world powers should include major emerging economies — such as India and China, he suggested. In any case most of the other big nations attend on the final day. Should the G8 not be folded into the G14 or G20, as several leaders at the summit argued yesterday?

It is certainly the case that the G8 — seven Western democracies and Russia — is an arbitrary group that began as an informal discussion among six Western leaders in Rambouillet in 1975. Canada joined later but this grouping lost its logic when Russia — far from an economic power and by no means a full democracy — joined in 1997. This year there have even been calls to eject Italy, the current host, in favour of Spain — partly because the Spanish economy is more powerful and partly because Silvio Berlusconi’s political record is under attack.

Most G8 members recognise that they are no longer representative of the world’s major economies. The G20, which includes the main developing economies, is a more sensible forum in which to discuss global trends. It was this group that met in London in the spring to plot a response to the economic downturn.

The G8 lost its political impact when it separated the discussions of foreign and economic ministers from the main annual summit. It continues to issue statements on the main global issues — aid to Africa, terrorism, nuclear security and Aids. Such issues, and especially topics such as climate change, however, have little relevance without the participation of China, in particular, as well as India, Brazil, Mexico, Indonesia and South Africa.

Some members, especially Japan and Italy, which are not members of the UN Security Council and are protective of their G8 status, oppose any change. With the next G20 set for Pittsburgh in September it is clear that President Obama and most G8 leaders do not have the time or the stomach for two summits, largely repetitive, a year. The days of the G8 look numbered.

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