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Representatives of the G7 countries in Cornwall
Photo: WPA Pool / Getty Images
The G7 countries have been advising in Cornwall, England, since Friday.
On the second day, the deliberations officially begin at 11 a.m. in Carbis Bay, chaired by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
In the evening there should even be a barbecue in a relaxed atmosphere on the beach.
But before that there are important talks from the heads of state and government of
Germany
,
France
,
Italy
,
Great Britain
,
Canada
and
Japan
and the
USA
on the program.
Australia, South Korea, South Africa and India also take part in the talks from time to time.
The summit of seven leading industrial nations marks the first personal meeting of the country leaders since the outbreak of the corona pandemic.
Last year, the "Group of Seven" only switched to video because of Corona.
Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) spoke at the beginning of the summit of "important consultations in a wonderful environment".
She is hoping for very good results from the meeting with her colleagues.
Basically, the summit should focus on these topics:
the
corona pandemic
and vaccination policy, for example patent protection for vaccines
Foreign policy
: Questions about the origin of the pandemic caused tensions between China and the USA.
Forced labor in China is also at issue, it was recently said.
Economic policy
, for example strategies to stimulate the economy again after the pandemic
The topic on Sunday is
climate change
and
species protection
: Before the summit, the World Biodiversity Council IPBES and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) presented a joint report.
The central theme in South West England is the fight against the pandemic.
The G7 wants to donate a billion doses of vaccine to poorer countries to help fight the pandemic.
The USA want to contribute 500 million cans, the British hosts 100 million, the German contribution was still open until Friday evening.
In addition, on the second of three days at the summit, the question of whether patent protection for vaccines should be suspended in order to promote their production in developing countries. The US government had started the discussion about it. Chancellor Angela Merkel is resisting it. In addition to US President Joe Biden, French President Emmanuel Macron is one of the principled supporters.
Despite differences on this point, the US under Biden is again pulling in the same direction with the other leading Western democracies after years of crisis. Biden wants to persuade the traditional allies of the USA to join forces in order to counter autocracies like those in Russia and China. For example, in addition to questions about the origin of the pandemic, there should also be forced labor in the country. Include criticism of the People's Republic in the final communique of the meeting.
Most recently, a global infrastructure project was also announced as a counterweight to the Chinese Silk Road initiative.
It is about raising hundreds of billions of dollars of public and private funds for investments in developing countries, said a US government official.
With its New Silk Road infrastructure initiative launched in 2013, China wants to boost trade within Asia as well as with Europe and Africa.
Biden is expected to meet Merkel in person on the sidelines of the summit for the first time since taking office.
It was announced on Friday that Merkel would be welcomed back to the White House in Washington for the first time in more than three years on July 15.
Because of that meeting in Washington, it was expected that there would only be a brief face-to-face meeting with Biden at the G7 summit.
Guterres calls for global vaccination plan
The British G7 chairmanship announced on Saturday night that the group of the major industrialized nations wanted to adopt a "Health Declaration from Carbis Bay" at their summit. It is planned to reduce the development of vaccines, treatment methods and diagnoses for future diseases to less than 100 days.
A White House announcement said the commitment to donate a billion doses of vaccine forms the basis for a package of G7 measures to end the pandemic next year. A plan of action that will be decided at the meeting includes vaccinating the world's most vulnerable people, providing emergency supplies and supporting global economic recovery. Measures are also included so that the international community can prepare for future pandemics and prevent, recognize and react to them.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres welcomed the G7 initiative on vaccine donations, but urged much more effort. “A billion is very welcome. But obviously we need more than that, ”he said on the sidelines of the summit. It is important to act quickly and protect as many people worldwide as possible before the virus becomes immune to vaccines, said Guterres. A global vaccination plan is needed. "We're at war with the virus."
The US also expected the G7 summit to provide an important impetus for the recovery of the global economy, which has been ravaged by the pandemic. The White House announced that Biden and the other heads of state and government agreed to politically support the global economy as long as necessary. The goal is "a strong, balanced and integrative economic recovery." It should also be discussed how a fairer and more sustainable world economy can be created.
Merkel spoke at the summit about the decisive consequences of the pandemic for the economy and society, as it was said. Accordingly, the G7 agreed that sustainable investments are now important in the areas of climate, education, research, digitization and growth. Climate protection is another important topic at the summit and a central concern of Biden. Climate activists reported protests in the vicinity of the summit.
The White House also announced that support for the US proposal for a global minimum tax is expected at the summit.
Large digital corporations such as Apple or Google should therefore pay at least 15 percent taxes worldwide in the future.
The G7 finance ministers had a breakthrough on the subject last week.
In a next step, the G20 states - a larger group of leading and emerging economies - are to be brought on board.
joe / dpa / AFP / Reuters
