LONDON (CU)_British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Friday (Feb 19) opened the Group of Seven virtual leaders meeting by calling on the member states to work together on building back better from the COVID-19 pandemic. He noted that “Jobs and growth” is what the countries are going to need when rebuilding the global economy.
The COVID-19 pandemic has killed more than 2.4 million people, disrupted the livelihoods of millions of others, and tipped the global economy into its worst peacetime slump since the Great Depression.
The Group of Seven leaders, who control a little under half of the world’s economy, called for stronger defences against a future pandemic, including exploring a global health treaty. During the meeting the leaders also pledged billions of dollars to COVAX, a global collaboration programme, which was launched to ensure equitable access to COVID-19 tests, treatments, and vaccines, especially for poorer countries.
“COVID-19 shows that the world needs stronger defences against future risks to global health security,” the G7 noted. “We will continue to support our economies to protect jobs and support a strong, sustainable, balanced and inclusive recovery.”
Meanwhile, Facebook’s recent decision to suspend news feeds in Australia was among the subjects of discussion at the meeting, with French President Emmanuel Macron pointing out the role social media platforms should have in preserving freedom of speech, and how they should be regulated.
The G7 leaders also expressed their commitment to support Japan in holding the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Tokyo, which were postponed to this summer on account of the pandemic.
PM Johnson, who chaired the meeting, said it was great to have new faces such as US President Joe Biden and Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi who debuted at the G7 virtual leaders’ meeting on Friday.
The British Prime Minister noted that the G7 is a gathering of “like-minded liberal free-trading democracies” that stand together on many global issues, including the military coup in Myanmar and the detention of Alexei Navalny in Russia.
The Group consists of the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Japan, Canada and Italy, and has a combined gross domestic product of about $40 trillion, amounting to a little less than half of the global economy.
