* British Prime Minister
Does not exist more convincing and tragic proof of the need for global cooperation of the pandemic that has swept the world and claimed over 3.7 million victims.
For the first time since the beginning of this catastrophe, G7 leaders will meet in person today for a summit that I will chair myself in Cornwall, UK. I also invited the prime ministers of India and Australia and the presidents of South Korea and South Africa, for a wider confrontation with other free democracies and societies.
We have a shared goal: that of win the pandemic, minimize the risk of new similar events and rebuilding better societies from the rubble of this tragedy.
Around the table in Cornwall will be the largest and most advanced economies in the world, ready to mobilize their skills and competences against a common enemy.
The genius and perseverance of our scientists have provided us with safe and effective vaccines against Covid-19. Now our most pressing task is to use them for protect humanity as quickly as possible.
The UK helped found Covax, the global alliance that has so far provided 80 million doses to developing countries. Almost all of these doses were Oxford-AstraZeneca, the vaccine developed with the support of the British government – employing expertise from all over the UK – precisely because it was economical to administer, easy to store and able to protect the greatest number of people around the world.
The UK has allocated £ 548 million for Covax, e he will also donate most of the surplus doses from the national vaccination program.
In this serious crisis, we must all work harder. I therefore want the G7 to fix a challenging but deeply necessary goal: Provide 1 billion doses to developing countries to vaccinate all people in the world by the end of next year.
No one has ever attempted such a feat before and, if you doubt that it is possible, I urge you to be inspired by the extraordinary deeds already accomplished in the adversity of this pandemic. Our scientists have developed Covid-19 vaccines faster than ever before. The UK and many other countries are immunizing their citizens faster than previously thought possible.
We must now be guided by the same spirit of urgency and ingenuity in a global effort to protect all of humanity. We can do it, we must do it, and thanks to this G7 summit we will.
But the truth is that even if we succeeded, our efforts would be worth little if another deadly virus were to emerge and unleash a new catastrophe.
We have to for this enhance our collective capacities to prevent another pandemic and provide early warning mechanisms for future threats, including by creating a network of surveillance centers – a Global Radar for Pandemics.
It took our scientists 300 days to decipher the Covid riddle and produce vaccines, but we need to be able to respond even more quickly. This G7 summit will also serve to accelerate the development of vaccines, therapies and tests for any new virus, with the goal of moving from 300 to 100 days.
In addition to containing the risk of new disasters, we have the obligation to find a positive side to the severe test we are facing. We need to rebuild better societies and lay the foundations for a global economic recovery on a greener and fairer foundation.
Millions of girls around the world are denied an education, and this hinders the development of entire societies. This is a moral outrage and a serious impediment to economic growth. Our common goal must be to ensure the schooling of another 40 million girls by 2025. I will ask the G7 and host countries to further contribute to the Global Partnership for Education goal of raising $ 5 billion for schools in developing countries.
As classrooms become more numerous, at the same time we must create jobs that meet the needs of new young talents and protect the environment they will inherit. The G7 can push both of these goals forward, promoting a green industrial revolution and promising to halve carbon emissions by 2030, in order to limit the rise in global temperatures to 1.5 degrees.
The whole world will soon come together to face this crucial challenge: in November, in fact, the United Kingdom will host the COP26 conference in Glasgow, organized in collaboration with Italy. Meantime, I want the G7 to safeguard biodiversity for future generations, pledging to protect at least 30% of land and oceans by 2030.
We also need to offer developing countries the transparent and high-quality investments they need to build clean and green national infrastructure, and to boost their economies.
The global recovery agenda is undoubtedly stimulating, ambitious but achievable, as long as there is no lack of will and ingenuity. The United Kingdom has the privilege of presiding over the G7 and of being able to contribute, together with Italy and its other sister democracies, to starting this titanic effort. It is up to each of us to prove, now, that we are up to it.
June 11, 2021 (change June 11, 2021 | 00:06)
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