The 47th G7 Leaders’ Summit 2021 (Outreach Session of the G7 meeting) took place in a Hybrid format from June 11-13, 2021 at Cornwall, United Kingdom (UK). It was hosted by the United Kingdom (UK) as it holds the Presidency of G7 for 2021. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi virtually participated in the meeting and called G7 summit members for ‘One Earth One Health’.
- The theme for the Summit – ‘Building Back Better’.
- The UK invited Australia, India, South Korea, and South Africa (jointly called ‘Democracy 11’) as Guest Countries to the 2021 summit.
- US President Joe Biden, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Japan Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and Italy’s Prime Minister Mario Draghi attended the Summit in person.
- The 47th G7 Leaders’ Summit has been called the 1st ever net-zero G7 as all have committed to reaching net-zero emissions by 2050 (or at the latest with ambitious reductions targets in the 2020 decade).
- PM Narendra Modi participated in the 1st Outreach Session of the G7 Summit, he was the lead speaker for the session titled ‘Building Back Stronger – Health’, which focused on global recovery from the coronavirus pandemic and on strengthening resilience against future pandemics.
India signs Joint Statement on Open Societies Statement
India, South Korea, Australia, South Africa, and the G7 countries signed the ‘Open Societies Statement’, it supports ‘Human rights for all, both online and offline (as set out in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights)and Freedom of Expression.
i.The Open Societies statement commits to protecting civic space and media freedom, promoting freedom of expression, freedom of assembly and association, and freedom of religion or belief, by tackling all forms of discrimination, including racism.
ii.The declaration states that ‘Politically motivated internet shutdown’ is a great threat to freedom and democracy.
- According to a report by Access Now, digital rights and privacy organisation, India recorded the highest number of internet shutdowns in 2020. Out of 155 internet shutdowns, India alone accounted for 109.
G7 nations pledge 1 Billion Vaccine doses for Poorer nations.
During the summit, G7 countries pledged over 1 billion coronavirus vaccine doses for poorer nations.
- The doses will be made available directly and through the international COVAX programme.
- It falls short of the 11 billion doses the World Health Organization (WHO) said is needed to vaccinate at least 70% of the world’s population and end the pandemic.
Carbis Bay Declaration
The G7 leaders also issued the Carbis Bay Declaration to prevent any repeat of the human and economic devastation wreaked by COVID-19. The declaration declares a series of step to
- Reduce time taken to develop and licence vaccines, treatments, and diagnostics for any future disease to under 100 days.
- Reinforce global surveillance networks and genomic sequencing capacity.
- Support for reforming and strengthening the WHO.
- The UK will set up an Animal Vaccine Manufacturing and Innovation Centre at Pirbright Institute in Surrey, England. It is aimed at stopping viruses from jumping into the human population.
G7 leaders launch B3W Project to counter China
During the summit, the G7 leaders launched the ‘Build Back Better World (B3W)’ Project to counter China’s Belt and Road Infrastructure (BRI) initiative.
- B3W will provide infrastructure partnership and will mobilise capital in the areas such as climate, health and health security, digital technology, and gender equity and equality.
- It will help in achieving the USD 40 Trillion fund needed by developing nations by 2035 to boost their infrastructure.
Nature Compact & Blue Planet Fund
The G7 leaders agreed to set tough climate action targets and reduce coal and fossil fuel usage by ending direct government support for the fossil fuel energy sector overseas and by phasing out petrol and diesel cars.
- They agreed to increase their contributions to international climate finance to meet the target of mobilising USD 100 billion a year, which will help developing countries deal with the impacts of climate change and support sustainable growth.
- The G7 countries committed to halving their emissions by 2030 compared to 2010.
- They also endorsed a ‘Nature Compact’ to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030, which includes supporting the global target to conserve or protect at least 30% of land and 30% of ocean globally by the end of the decade.
i.UK’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson launched the 500 million pound Blue Planet Fund.
- It will support countries such as Ghana, Indonesia, and Pacific Island to tackle unsustainable fishing, protect and restore coastal ecosystems like mangroves and coral reefs, and reduce marine pollution.
ii. Indian Prime Minister highlighted India’s commitment to climate action.
- He stated that Indian Railways will achieve Net Zero Emissions by 2030 & India is the only G-20 country on track to meet its Paris commitments.
- Modi highlighted the effectiveness of the 2 major global initiatives of India – the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI) and the International Solar Alliance (ISA).
UK, US sign Atlantic Charter
US President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson signed the New Atlantic Charter agreement. It is modeled after the 1941 agreement signed by US President Franklin D. Roosevelt and UK Prime Minister Winston Churchill.
- The charter aims to combat the modern challenges of cyber threats and climate change to bring the pandemic to an end.
Recent Related News:
i.April 30, 2021, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Union Minister of Electronics & Information Technology represented India at the G-7 Digital and Technology Ministerial Meeting, which was held virtually on April 28, 2021.
About G7
Members – 7 (U.S., U.K., France, Germany, Italy, Canada, and Japan and additionally EU)
2021 Presidency – United Kingdom
