This archive report was first published on 12 June 2021.
On the second day of their summit in Cornwall, G7 leaders are set to issue a declaration outlining measures to prevent a repeat of the human and economic devastation caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who is hosting the three-day gathering at the Cornish seaside resort of Carbis Bay, opened the summit with a plea to tackle global inequality, saying it was vital to learn from the 'mistakes' of the 2008 financial crisis and tackle the 'scar' of inequality.
The G7 leaders will issue the Carbis Bay Declaration after a special session on Saturday, which will set out a plan to try to prevent any repeat of the human and economic devastation wreaked by Covid-19.
According to America's Johns Hopkins university, globally, more than 175 million people have had the infection since the outbreak began, with over 3.7 million Covid-related deaths.
The G7 declaration will spell out a series of concrete steps, including slashing the time taken to develop and licence vaccines, treatments and diagnostics for any future disease to under 100 days, reinforcing global surveillance networks and genomic sequencing capacity, and support for reforming and strengthening the World Health Organization (WHO).
Before the talks, Mr Johnson said: 'In the last year the world has developed several effective coronavirus vaccines, licensed and manufactured them at pace and is now getting them into the arms of the people who need them.'
However, some charities and campaigners have criticised the scale of the UK's plan to donate more than 100 million Covid vaccines to poorer countries within the next year, with 5 million doses to be given out by the end of September, 25 million by the end of 2021, and the rest provided during 2022.
UN Secretary General António Guterres and WHO director Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus will also take part in Saturday's session, with Dr Tedros stressing that 'the world needs a stronger global surveillance system to detect new epidemic and pandemic risks'.
On Friday, the leaders attended a reception at the Eden Project, where the Queen joked: 'Are you supposed to be looking as if you're enjoying yourself?' The leaders laughed, and Mr Johnson replied emphatically: 'Yes.'
