G7 have fallen disappointingly short on climate, COVID-19 and open societies, say Civil Society 7 (C7)

Responding to the G7 Communique, the Civil Society 7 (C7) made up of organisations including Action for Global Health, UK Committee for UNICEF (UNICEF UK), Plan International UK, Concern Worldwide, Crisis Action, Uniting to Combat Neglected Tropical Diseases, Climate Action Network UK (CAN-UK) said:

“The success of this year’s G7 summit should be judged by whether leaders have put their money and resources where their mouths are. Without 10 billion vaccines, the removal of patents and investment in healthcare systems pledges to inoculate the world by the end of next year ring hollow. Multiple commitments for climate action have been made and remade. Yet even after this summit, we are still short of the significant climate finance needed to walk into COP26 having earned the trust of other nations. Climate finance remains woefully inadequate particularly for adaptation for climate-vulnerable communities and countries. This G7 was the moment to show the world we are serious about tackling climate change and environmental degradation, and ready to live up to the promises of the Paris Agreement. G7 leaders have fallen disappointingly short and failed to “build back better”.

We urgently need a G7 that leads in driving a sustainable, just and resilient economic recovery. A G7 that puts solidarity with lower income countries and the commitment to leave no one behind at the heart of multilateralism. Meeting Official Development Assistant (ODA) commitments to 0.7% and taking concrete steps to address global inequalities by investing money and resources to protect people from future pandemics is the baseline. We need a G7 that will speak out and hold governments that attempt to restrict human rights, silence journalists, and undermine civic space to account, and one that puts timelines in place to back up the rhetoric and meet existing and new commitments.

This year’s G7 was the moment to deliver health, economic and climate justice for people on the frontline of the global pandemic and climate crisis. Instead, we saw bold statements lacking in substance.”

Catherine Pettengell, Climate Action Network UK (CAN-UK) Interim Director and C7 climate and environment lead said:

“G7 leaders have missed the boat in Cornwall on climate action and setting up success at COP26. Despite talking about the scale of the crisis, few concrete outcomes have been achieved. Multiple commitments for climate action have been made and remade, but the summit has not provided the significant climate finance needed – or the prioritisation of adaptation finance urgently needed by communities and countries on the frontline of the climate crisis. Urgent action is now needed to steer a course towards COP26 that will deliver on the promises of the Paris Agreement.”

Katie Husselby, Coordinator of Action for Global Health, said

“Today’s announcements are too little, too slow and lacking in ambition. As health workers and vulnerable groups globally continue to go without vaccines, and COVID-19 exacerbates weaknesses in health systems and disrupts essential health services, this weekend was a critical moment for the UK to leverage substantial action to improve global health.

If the UK truly wishes to create a healthier world, they must use the remainder of their presidency to significantly scale up action and financing for the COVID-19 response and strengthening health systems.”

Joanna Rea, Director of Advocacy, UNICEF UK said:

“This G7 commitment is the beginning of the action required to end this pandemic. However, the urgent need to immediately share more vaccines with the world remains. We need a clear plan to address the shortfall in vaccine supply that includes a rapid acceleration of dose sharing in the next three months to ensure millions of vaccines get to the people in countries who need them the most.”

ENDS

1. The Civil Society 7 (C7) is a group of organisations, including Action for Global Health, UK Committee for UNICEF (UNICEF UK), Plan International UK, Concern Worldwide, Crisis Action, Uniting to Combat Neglected Tropical Diseases, Climate Action Network UK (CAN-UK), Jubilee Debt Campaign, and the Trade Justice Movement, responsible for engaging with the G7 on urgent civil society issues. The Civil Society 7 has consulted and engaged with representatives of over 200 civil society organisations from around the world.
2. Heading into the G7 Summit, the Civil Society 7 (C7) warned that G7 leaders risk falling short unless they urgently scale-up ambitions.
3. The 2021 C7 communiqué can be found in full here.
4. For further information or interviews with Catherine Pettengell, Interim Director Climate Action Network UK (CAN-UK), Thoko Elphick-Pooley, Executive Director at Uniting to Combat Neglected Tropical Diseases or Katie Husselby, Coordinator of Action for Global Health please contact Maryam Mohsin on 07816191596 or [email protected]