G7 SUMMIT KICKS OFF, FOCUSES ON PANDEMIC AND CLIMATE CHANGE

Leaders of the Group of Major Industrialized Nations (G7) are meeting on Friday for a summit that is overshadowed by the coronavirus pandemic, Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa) reported.

On the first day, leaders are due to discuss recovery from the coronavirus pandemic, focusing on questions such as COVID-19 vaccine donations and financial aid to build vaccine production sites around the world.

The G7 group has pledged to donate 1 billion vaccine doses to poorer nations, by sharing jabs directly and through financial aid, the British government announced. Leaders are also to come up with a plan to extend vaccine manufacturing.

Ahead of the summit, US President Joe Biden said the US would donate another 500 million vaccine doses to 92 poorer countries and the African Union by June next year. Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who is hosting the three-day summit in the coastal village of Carbis Bay, announced that his country would provide 100 million surplus doses, most of them to be distributed through the COVAX vaccine-sharing program.

The G7 group remains divided over the issue of lifting patent protection for coronavirus vaccines, as proposed by the US and several other nations.

French President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday that France and South Africa would present a proposal during the summit on an exemption for a limited period of time and applying to particular places.

The group is also looking to discuss plans to better prepare the world for future outbreaks. "Global solutions are needed," according to a draft of a "Carbis Bay Health Declaration" seen by dpa. In the draft, the G7 leaders commit "to strengthen our collective defenses to better prevent, detect, and respond to, and recover from, future pandemics through effective multilateral action and a strengthened global health system."

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