Leaders of the Group of Seven wealthy nations staked their claim on Sunday to leading the world out of the coronavirus pandemic and crisis. The leaders pledged more than 1 billion coronavirus vaccine doses to poorer nations, vowed to help developing countries grow while fighting climate change and backed a minimum tax on multinational firms.
At the group's first face-to-face meeting in two years, the leaders dangled promises of support for global health, green energy, infrastructure and education. They demonstrated that international cooperation is back after the upheavals caused by the pandemic and the unpredictability of former US President Donald Trump.
“This isn't about imposing our values on the rest of the world,” British Prime Minister Boris Johnson told reporters at the end of the summit in Cornwall. “What we as the G-7 need to do is demonstrate the benefits of democracy and freedom and human rights to the rest of the world,” he said.
US President Joe Biden said it was an “extraordinary, collaborative and productive meeting" that showed "America's back in the business of leading the world alongside nations who share our most deeply held values.”