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President Joe Biden said on Sunday that leaders of the world’s seven richest countries have agreed to donate 1 billion doses of a coronavirus vaccine to poor countries over the next year.
As the G7 summit wrapped up in the English town of Carbis Bay, Biden told a news conference in nearby Newquay that the COVID-19 pandemic would be a “steady project for a long time.”
It was a “clear consensus” among other leaders that commitments they had made to donate vaccines would not be the end, he said, adding that the United States would be responsible for about half a billion doses, or about 500 million.
He said democracies have a duty to “accelerate and implement,” adding that the United States may eventually be able to contribute an additional billion doses.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, at a separate news conference, said the doses would be direct transport of vaccines and funding for COVAX, a global vaccine procurement system backed by the World Health Organization and the Gavi Vaccine Alliance, he said at a news conference in Cornwall about 500 miles west of London.
However, the commitment is well below the 11 billion doses the World Health Organization has said are needed to vaccinate at least 70 percent of the world’s population.
Other pledges were agreed on on China, climate change, and making multinationals pay their fair share of taxes, according to the summit’s closing statement.
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On his first trip abroad as president, Biden sought to make confronting China an important part of the G7 summit. Along with the other six countries – Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United Kingdom – they have criticized Beijing for its crackdown on the Uyghur minority and other rights abuses.
The statement said the G7 would continue to challenge “practices that undermine the fair and transparent operation of the global economy.” It also called for “China to respect human rights and fundamental freedoms, particularly with regard to Xinjiang…and the autonomy of Hong Kong.”
She said “timely, transparent, expert-led” studies should also be conducted on the origins of Covid-19.
Biden also told reporters Sunday that he supports “value-driven” financing plans for infrastructure plans for developing countries, which could rival China’s massive Belt and Road initiative.
China, the world’s second-largest economy, is not part of the bloc, and a spokesman for the country’s embassy in London warned on Sunday that the days when “small” groups of countries decided the fate of the world are long gone.
After strained relations between former President Donald Trump and Western allies, fellow leaders welcomed Biden’s arrival, with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson hailing him on Saturday. French President Emmanuel Macron said it was “great to have an American president who is part of the club and so willing to cooperate.”
On Sunday, Biden said there was palpable enthusiasm that “America is back on the table” and can be “relied on again” in global affairs.
G7 leaders also pledged on Sunday to increase their contributions to climate finance to meet a $100 billion-a-year belated spending pledge, in a bid to help poor countries cut carbon emissions and deal with global warming.
British naturalist David Attenborough addressed leaders via video earlier on Sunday and warned that “the natural world today is greatly diminished” as he pushed for urgent action.
“The decisions we make this decade – particularly the decisions made by the most economically advanced countries – are the most important in human history,” he said.
Some environmental groups said the pledges were not enough. Greenpeace UK accused Johnson of making “reheated old promises” and said “nothing is taken for granted” until countries come in with the money.
As summit host, the UK was on a charm offensive, as the royal family posted to meet world leaders on Friday. But the consequences of her exit from the European Union also hung over the meeting, with Johnson clashing with EU officials over the treatment of goods in Northern Ireland after Brexit.
However, commanders smiled for photos on the beach during Saturday night’s barbecue and watched a flying display by the RAF’s Red Arrows. Biden and his wife Jill surprised locals when they attended a small Catholic church for Sunday morning mass on the coast on the tip of southwest England.
Later on Sunday, Biden will head to Windsor Castle for tea with Queen Elizabeth II.
Reuters and Associated Press contributed.
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