The leaders of the G7 countries ended the three-day summit with a series of different initiatives, including a promise to vaccinate poorer countries against the coronavirus, a promise to allow large companies to pay a fair share of taxes, and a plan to tackle climate change. And the combination of money.

In a joint communiqué issued in the southwestern British city of Cornwall at the end of the meeting on Sunday, the leaders of the G7 countries-Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States-tried to show that the pandemic caused After the upheaval and the unpredictability of former US President Donald Trump, international cooperation is back.

The following is a summary of the main G7 initiatives:

Billion doses of vaccine

G7 has made ambitious commitments, such as sharing vaccine doses with less affluent countries that urgently need vaccines. At a press conference held at the end of the summit, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson stated that the organization will promise to provide at least 1 billion doses of vaccines, half of which will come from the United States and 100 million from the United Kingdom.

Many of the promised doses will flow through COVAX, a global vaccine procurement system supported by the World Health Organization and the vaccine alliance Gavi.

The pledge does not represent a brand new resource, and the amount of vaccine donated is much lower than the number of vaccines needed to vaccinate poorer countries. In addition, the plan did not address distribution gaps that could make it difficult to provide doses.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and other public health officials praised the vaccine promise, but said it was not enough. He said that to truly end the pandemic, 11 billion doses of vaccine will be needed by the middle of 2022 to vaccinate at least 70% of the world’s population.

“We need more, we need to be faster,” Tedros said.

‘Transparent investigation’

The G7 also urged China to cooperate with the United Nations health agencies to conduct a “transparent” second phase of investigation into the origin of the global coronavirus pandemic.

The organization said in its final statement: “We… call for a timely, transparent, expert-led, and science-based WHO study on the origin of COVID-19, including those recommended in the expert report, to be conducted in China.”

Step up actions to combat climate change

Climate change is the focus of the last day of negotiations between leaders and G7 countries, and they formally support the strengthening of collective actions to deal with environmental crises.

“We are committed…to halve our collective emissions in the 20 years before 2030, increase and improve climate finance by 2025, and protect or protect at least 30% of land and sea by 2030,” United Wrote in the communiqué.

The seven leaders also agreed to increase donations to fulfill the overdue and unpaid annual spending commitments of $100 billion to help poorer countries reduce carbon emissions and combat global warming, but activists said they did not fulfill their firm cash commitments.

In addition to plans to help developing countries speed up infrastructure financing and switch to renewable and sustainable technologies, the world’s seven largest advanced economies have renewed their commitment to achieving climate financing goals.

However, the Climate Group stated that such commitments lack details. A spokesman for British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that individual countries are expected to determine the scale of the increase “in due course.”

Max Lawson, head of inequality policy at Oxfam, said, “Most people in the G7 have missed the opportunity to make new commitments to climate finance. This is unacceptable.”

“Prior to the landmark climate negotiations in Glasgow, developing countries are seeking progress in this area. Vague promises of providing new financing for green development projects should not detract from this goal,” he said.

US President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden were welcomed by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson before the G7 Summit in Cabis Bay, UK [File: Patrick Semansky/Reuters]

Global minimum tax for multinational companies

Earlier this month, finance ministers agreed to impose at least 15% of the world’s lowest tax on large multinational companies to prevent companies from using tax havens to avoid taxes, thereby plundering some countries’ urgently needed taxes. Therefore, this decision has received widespread attention. income. The proposal will now be submitted to the G20 national meeting to be held in Italy next month.

Russia and cyber attacks

Wealthy countries demand that Russia take action against those who carry out cyber attacks and use ransomware, and call for investigations into the use of chemical weapons in Russia.

“We call on Russia to urgently investigate and credibly explain the use of chemical weapons on its land, stop systematic repression of independent civil society and the media, and identify, destroy and hold accountable those who implement ransomware within its territory.” , Abuse of virtual currency, money laundering and other cyber crimes,” said a communiqué issued after the summit of British leaders.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his wife Carrie Johnson took a photo with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at the G7 Summit in Carbis Bay, Cornwall, UK [File: Patrick Semansky/Reuters]

Stop the war in Ethiopia immediately

The G7 also called for an immediate end to hostilities in the Tigray region of Ethiopia.

The communiqué stated: “We are deeply concerned about the ongoing conflict in Ethiopia’s Tigray region and reports of major humanitarian tragedies that are taking place.” “We call for an immediate cessation of hostilities and unimpeded access to all areas of humanitarian channels and immediate withdrawal. Out of the Eritrean army.”

Fighting broke out in November between government forces and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), the former ruling party in the area. The army from neighboring Eritrea also joined the conflict to support the Ethiopian government.

Challenge China

The leaders of wealthy democracies said they would jointly challenge China’s “non-market economic practices” and called on Beijing to respect human rights in Xinjiang and Hong Kong.

US President Joe Biden once wanted to persuade other democratic leaders to propose a more unified front for economic competition with Beijing, and strongly condemned China’s “non-market policies and human rights violations.”

The G7 Communiqué said: “Regarding the competition between China and the global economy, we will continue to consult on collective methods to challenge non-market policies and practices that undermine the fair and transparent operation of the global economy.”

The leaders also stated that they will promote their values ??by calling on China to respect human rights and fundamental freedoms in Xinjiang and the semi-autonomous city of Hong Kong, where Beijing is accused of serious violations of the human rights of the Uyghur minority.