abusesaffiliationarrow-downarrow-leftarrow-rightarrow-upattack-typeburgerchevron-downchevron-leftchevron-rightchevron-upClock iconclosedeletedevelopment-povertydiscriminationdollardownloademailenvironmentexternal-linkfacebookfiltergenderglobegroupshealthC4067174-3DD9-4B9E-AD64-284FDAAE6338@1xinformation-outlineinformationinstagraminvestment-trade-globalisationissueslabourlanguagesShapeCombined Shapeline, chart, up, arrow, graphLinkedInlocationmap-pinminusnewsorganisationotheroverviewpluspreviewArtboard 185profilerefreshIconnewssearchsecurityPathStock downStock steadyStock uptagticktooltiptwitteruniversalityweb

The content is also available in the following languages: 日本語

Article

25 Jun 2021

Author:
Patrick Wintour, Heather Stewart & Phillip Inman, the Guardian

G7: Promising action on vaccines, China and global corporate tax

"G7’s Carbis Bay declaration: the key pledges", 13 June 2021

  • Vaccines

The G7 pledged over the next 12 months to secure a further 1bn vaccine doses either through donating surplus supplies or providing further finance to Covax, the UN-backed scheme charged with distributing vaccines to low- and middle-income countries.

[...]The communique also set out plans to reduce roadblocks to production in Africa and on the controversial issue of enforced temporary waivers of patents said they will support manufacturing in low income countries. They said they would engage constructively on the issue of intellectual property waivers in discussions at the World Trade Organization.

[...]

  • China

The G7 called on China to “respect human rights and fundamental freedoms, especially in relation to Xinjiang and those rights, freedoms and high degree of autonomy for Hong Kong enshrined in the Sino-British Joint Declaration and the Basic Law”.

[...]

In a separate statement the White House said: “The US and our G7 partners remain deeply concerned by the use of all forms of forced labor in global supply chains, including state-sponsored forced labor of vulnerable groups and minorities and supply chains of the agricultural, solar, and garment sectors – the main supply chains of concern in Xinjiang.”

[...]

  • Finance

There was progress towards a global deal that will put a 15% floor under the tax paid by the world’s largest corporations, and in particular tech firms such as Amazon, Google and Facebook. [...]

Leaders of the richest seven nations agreed to repudiate the policies of austerity and retrenchment that were implemented in the years after the 2008 banking crash and, in the words of Johnson, build back better and in a way that makes society more equal and protects the environment.[...]

The G7 also agreed to increase the special drawing rights (SDRs) of low-income countries by $100bn. SDRs are issued by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to boost the reserves and reduce the borrowing costs of vulnerable countries, allowing them to increase spending on health systems and cover pandemic costs.[...]