All that you want to know about G7 2021

Summary

• The G7 2021 meeting would be taking place in Carbis Bay, Cornwall on the 11^th and 13^th of June after a gap of one year.
• The G7 summit aims towards global recovery from the pandemic, all the while maintaining a climate change goals.
• All necessary precautions against Covid will be taken to ensure maximum safety of all the attendees.

G7 stands for The Group of Seven and is an organization of the world’s seven largest and wealthiest nations. The G7 2021 summit is expected to take place in Carbis Bay, Cornwall. The G7 summit takes place every year, with the year 2020 being an exception when the US held the G7 presidency and Donald Trump had called off the meeting.

Thus, the 2021 G7 summit would be the first time when G7 leaders would meet after 2019. Before to the meeting, the nations were engaged in zoom calls for about 18 months. The meeting will take place on the 11^th and 13^th of June.

The G7 leaders organize this yearly summit to discuss issues of global interest. Despite worries regarding the virus, the UK government believes it is important for the invited representatives to have a discussion in person. To ensure the safety of everyone present, Covid testing would be conducted.

G7 Countries

The seven countries forming the G7 are the UK, US, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan. These countries have earned a reputation as advanced economies with open societies. Apart from these countries, India, Australia, South Korea, and South Africa have also received an invitation to the summit from the UK.

The G7 summit presents an opportunity for these nations to have a dialogue over shared goals develop long-term partnership towards achieving these goals. Each year the target set under the G7 summit is of immense importance to the current setup.

The 2021 Summit Target

The goal of this year’s G7 summit includes developing a global path towards recovery from the pandemic, all the while maintaining a sustainable approach in the process. Under the UK Presidency of the G7 this year, the following goals have been laid out:

• Leading the global recovery from the pandemic and building resilience against future pandemics.
• Promoting free and fair policies for the future.
• Acting against climate change and preserving biodiversity.
• Championing the shared values.

These goals have been kept in line with current circumstances and the actions needed now. The pandemic has brought along with it an unprecedented set of challenges which some nations have still not been able to emerge out of.

The G7 summit would give these nations a platform to voice their concerns and provide constructive ways to tackle the problem. Additionally, it would give new trade passageways to strengthen global trade and bring every nation closer to the free trade goals also set by international organizations like the WTO.

The UK has also laid out a target of protecting 30% of the land and of the ocean by 2030 and pioneer the ongoing fight towards net zero. Further aims have been laid out to work in the areas of global development and democracy, supporting female education, food security, health, and sustainable development financing.

The role of G7 in the past

The current summit is a part of various summits that the G7 conducts in a year. For instance, the G7 finance summit took place on the 4^th of June, in which the issue of taxation of large corporations was discussed. Thus, different global events are discussed in these meetings.

The annual summit is the main event conducted by the G7 countries. It allows these nations to influence global movements and tackle global issues. The strategies and policies developed by G7 are adopted by other nations too.

In 1996, the G7 launched an initiative to work for the 42 heavily indebted poor countries. This was followed by a pledge in the year 2005 to cancel International Development Association debt of certain countries.

The group also briefly included Russia and formed G8 from 1998 to 2014. Additionally, an amount of USD 300 million was provided by the G7 in 1997 towards the containment of the reactor meltdown at Chernobyl.

The pandemic and its effect on the meetup

Since leaders from across the globe would be attending the summit, concerns regarding Covid are bound to emerge in the background. However, Cornwall Council has taken the safety precautions necessary to conduct the meeting. The council has also stated that no compromises will be made.

All attendees would have to give a negative test result before they can be allowed to enter the premises. Also, daily testing would be done and anyone who tests positive would have to self-isolate. Face coverings, social distancing and appropriate hand washing would also be mandated.

The 400 miles of coastline available in Cornwall would provide ideal ground to conduct the summit. It would also help boost revenue of the local businesses along the coastline, providing them some relief from the adversities of Covid.

Despite several challenges looming ahead of it, the G7 meetup can be a key event shining light on global concerns. Previous efforts taken by the G7 have borne constructive fruits in the form of malaria and Aids reduction. The UK will also be holding the COP26 climate talks in November, which makes the current G7 summit a steppingstone for the same.