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Everything you need to know about the G7 summit

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World leaders met in Cornwall to discuss a variety of global issues, including climate change and the pandemic. Here are all the main talking points from this year’s G7 summit.

Last weekend saw many world leaders – including Joe Biden and Boris Johnson – gather at Carbis Bay in the UK for the 47th G7 summit.

This annual event is used by the world’s wealthiest liberal democracies to discuss a whole matter of humanitarian problems and environmental issues. It first started in 1970 and includes the US, UK, Germany, France, Canada, Japan, and Italy.

Unsurprisingly, this year’s conversations were dominated by the pandemic, vaccines, and global healthcare distribution. The environment remained an important talking point, however, especially as demonstrations and protests were spotted all around Cornwall during the summit.

In case you missed it, here are the main takeaways from this year’s G7 summit  and what might happen for the world moving forward. Let’s hope Boris doesn’t fly in on a jet next time, mind.


The COVID-19 response and vaccine distributions 

One key talking point this year was how to avoid similar disruptive pandemic situations in the future. Boris Johnson emphasised the need for a global protocol response that is more effective and quicker than last year’s handling of COVID-19.

In addition, the G7 countries vowed to distribute 1 billion vaccines to poorer nations as part of an effort to combat vaccine nationalism.

Interestingly, the UK has been one of the worst hoarders of vaccines, leaving those more at risk in countries like India without adequate medical care to cope. Johnson said the goal was to ‘vaccinate the world’ by the end of 2022 however, despite his government’s track record.

US president Joe Biden encouraged others to extend loans to developing nations in order to help the recovery process across the world, and to limit China’s ‘Belt and Road’ initiative, a long-term economic plan to boost its influence in over 70 countries.


Focus on China’s human rights abuses

Biden made a point to stress that he isn’t a fan of China’s growing economic influence, and condemned the human rights abuse that has been happening in Xinjiang for quite some time.

It is alleged that the country is using forced labour, according to the UN and other rights groups such as Amnesty. China denies the allegations but this hasn’t been enough to convince world leaders.


Climate change and the ‘green revolution’

This year’s G7 is considered a build up of the COP26 conference scheduled for November 2021, and Johnson made clear that climate change should be a key factor in policy initiatives and alterations in the next few years.

Leaders agreed to a ‘green revolution’ in which net-zero carbon emissions would be achieved by 2050. They also agreed to protect and conserve at least 30% of land and oceans by 2030.

Green infrastructure projects to help developing nations move away from a reliance on cheaper fossil fuels were also outlined, with leaders pledging to offer financial incentives and aid.


Introducing new tax laws for companies worldwide

Perhaps one of the biggest outcomes of this year’s G7 summit was the introduction of new minimum tax rules for multinational enterprises.

We recently wrote in detail about how this new law could diminish tax havens and provide significant increases in funding for state services. It could effectively stop big corporations such as Google and Amazon from avoiding tax – which remains a huge problem despite years of controversy.

We’ll have to see if these proposals and promises come to fruition, but it’s good to see international agreement on key topics such as climate change, taxes, and medical support for developing nations.

Next up is the COP26 summit in November – keep it marked in the calendar.

Editor In Chief London, UK

I’m Charlie (He/Him), the Editor In Chief at Thred. I studied English at the University of Birmingham and as a music and gaming enthusiast, I’m a nerd for pop culture. You can find me curating playlists, designing article headline images, and sipping cider on a Thursday. Follow me on Twitter, LinkedIn and drop me some ideas/feedback via email.

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