On Friday, the United Kingdom (UK), who currently holds the presidency of the Group of Seven (G7) multilateral forum, virtually hosted the 47th G7 Leaders’ Summit, which saw the participation of leaders from the United States (US), France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and Canada. The top agenda of the meeting was COVID-19 vaccines and post-pandemic recovery. During the meeting, the leaders agreed to work in collaboration “to make 2021 a turning point for multilateralism and to shape a recovery that promotes the health and prosperity of our people and planet.”
“We, the leaders of the Group of Seven, met today and resolved to work together to beat COVID-19 and build back better,” said a joint statement released after the virtual meeting. “Today, with increased financial commitments of over 4 billion US dollars to ACT-A and COVAX, collective G7 support totals 7.5 billion dollars… We reaffirm our support for all pillars of the Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator (ACT-A), its COVAX facility, and affordable and equitable access to vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostics, reflecting the role of extensive immunisation as a global public good”, the statement elaborated.
This was President Joe Biden’s first G7 summit, wherein he announced the immediate donation of $2 billion to the COVAX program co-led by the World Health Organization (WHO). He said that the US will further provide an additional $2 billion over the next two years to help nations fulfil their own quotas.
Furthermore, the leaders also pledged to cooperate with the Group of 20 (G20) forum and other international institutions on other important global issues, including the upholding of a rules-based multilateral trading system. In this respect, they committed to “strive to reach a consensus-based solution on international taxation by mid-2021 within the framework of the OECD.”
Climate change also featured on the meeting’s agenda. “Recovery from COVID-19 must build back better for all. Looking to UNFCCC COP26 and CBD COP15, we will put our global ambitions on climate change and the reversal of biodiversity loss at the centre of our plans,” said the G7. With regards to this, the leaders welcomed the US’ readmission to the Paris Climate Agreement and agreed on the need for “a green, sustainable global recovery”.
In addition, the leaders also supported Japan’s commitment to hold the Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020 this summer. Tokyo has been debating moving forward with the already delayed Olympics games this summer as it battles rising coronavirus cases. While public opinion on the matter remains split, the Japanese government has been making consistent efforts to conduct the games this year.
In other related developments, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to attend the G7 Summit in Cornwall this June, after India was invited as a guest country by the UK, along with South Korea and Australia. Recently, there has been a rising consensus among members to expand the membership of the G7 forum to include the aforementioned countries due to the rapid expansion of their economies.
G7 Summit Focuses on Pandemic Recovery and COVID-19 Vaccines
On Friday, the Group of Seven (G7) leaders met virtually in a meeting hosted by the United Kingdom to discuss post-pandemic recovery.
February 22, 2021
SOURCE: ITV