The G7 (Group of Seven) is an organisation made up of the world's seven largest so-called advanced economies. They are Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK and the United States. Leaders will arrive on Friday 11 June and meetings will get underway the following morning, with guest countries arriving that afternoon.
However, Indian PM Narendra Modi wouldn’t be attending the G7. "While appreciating the invitation to the Prime Minister by UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson to attend the G7 Summit as a special invitee, given the prevailing Covid situation, it has been decided that the Prime Minister will not attend the G7 Summit in person," MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said.
Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden will affirm a ‘special relationship’ at the G7 meeting with Johnson. He is also expected to discuss post-Brexit difficulties in Northern Ireland with Johnson.
Why Cornwall?
The UK holds the G7 presidency for 2021 and announced in January that the meeting would take place at the Carbis Bay Hotel. The region is seen as central to the UK's green technology sector. Showing off the country's green credentials is important to the government ahead of the COP26 climate conference in Glasgow in November.
Agenda
The main topic of conversation will be Covid recovery, including "a stronger global health system that can protect us all from future pandemics". The agenda also includes climate change and trade. Boris Johnson will call on fellow G7 leaders to make concrete commitments to vaccinate the entire world against coronavirus by the end of 2022 at the Leaders' Summit in Cornwall, Downing Street has said.
G7 Finance Ministers agree on a historic Global Tax Agreement
G7 Finance ministers struck a seismic agreement on global tax reform that will mean the largest multinational tech giants will pay their fair share of tax in the countries in which they operate. Following two days of talks chaired by Chancellor Rishi Sunak in London, counterparts agreed to reforms that will see multinationals paying tax in the countries where they do business. As part of the landmark deal, finance ministers also agreed to the principle of a global minimum rate that ensures multinationals pay a tax of at least 15% in each country they operate. Nations also agreed to follow the UK lead in making climate reporting mandatory and agreed on a measure to crack down on the proceeds of environmental crimes.
New G7 clinical trials charter to bolster global health defences
Health ministers from some of the world’s largest democracies have committed to a new international agreement making it easier and quicker to share results from a vaccine and therapeutic trials to tackle Covid-19 and prevent future health threats.
Following the conclusion of the UK-hosted, in-person G7 Health Ministers’ meeting in Oxford, a Therapeutics and Vaccines Clinical Trials Charter will be rapidly implemented. This will help deliver high-quality, reliable and comparable evidence from international clinical trials to speed up access to approved treatments and vaccines, benefiting people in the UK and globally.
Chancellor calls on G7 to work together to secure a green global recovery
Chancellor Rishi Sunak co-hosted a virtual meeting of G7 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors with Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey earlier today (Friday 28 May) where he called on counterparts to continue working together to secure a green and sustainable global economic recovery – and ensure tackling climate change is prioritised in economic and financial policy.
Historic G7 commitments to tackle climate change and halt biodiversity loss by 2030
COP26 President-Designate, Alok Sharma and Defra Secretary of State George Eustice convened the Ministers ahead of the G7 leaders' summit in June, including the guest countries of India, Australia, South Africa and South Korea. All G7 members signed up to the global ‘30x30’ initiative to conserve or protect at least 30 per cent of the world’s land and at least 30 per cent of the world’s ocean by 2030, and committed to ‘30x30’ nationally.
