G7 Leaders’ Summit to begin with focus on Covid, climate change

London, June 11 (IANS): The much-anticipated G7 Leaders’ Summit, which will mark the first in-person meeting of the member heads of state since the Covid-19 outbreak last year, is set to begin on Friday with the main focus on the pandemic and climated change.

Hosted by UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, the three-day event will take place in the coastal village of Carbis Bay in Cornwall.

Following the inaguration on Friday, the leaders are due to discuss recovery from the coronavirus pandemic, focusing on questions such as Covid-19 vaccine donations and financial aid to build vaccine production sites around the world.

In the evening, the G7 leaders will be joined by Queen Elizabeth II, the Prince of Wales, the Duchess of Cornwall, and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge at a formal reception, the BBC reported.

Afterwards, Prince Charles will host a reception for the G7 leaders and CEOs from the world’s largest companies to discuss how the private sector can work with governments to tackle the climate emergency, with Prince William also in attendance.

Last year, the G7 leaders only met virtually last year due to the pandemic.

This is also is the first major international summit for US President Joe Biden since he came to office in January, which he is attending as part of a one-week Europe trip.

After his arrival on Thursday, Biden and Johnson held a meeting during which they signed a new Atlantic Charter aimed at working together on global challenges, including illicit finance, violent conflict and extremism, climate change, and global health crises like the Covid-19 pandemic.

They also agreed to work to reopen travel and to continue to share information that will help defeat the spread of coronavirus in our countries and internationally.

The G7 comprises the US, the UK, Germany, France, Italy, Japan and Canada.

On Saturday, the leaders of Australia, India, South Korea and South Africa are invited as guests as well.

Johnson has said he hopes this will make the summit more of a conference of leading democracies.