As the great and the good are meeting here in Cornwall very soon, I thought I’d post a few of my paintings with old News Headlines, which highlight a few of the G7 issues to be addressed.

The seven G7 countries are Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK and the US. Represented jointly by the President of the European Council and the President of the European Commission, the EU participates in all discussions as a guest. The UK has also invited leaders from Australia, India, South Africa, and South Korea to attend the Leaders’ Summit as guest countries.

Issues on the agenda – Biodiversity, Governance, Health, Sustainable Development, Industrial Development, Economics & Investment, Climate Change, National Action.

G7 set to strike deal on global corporate taxation

Delegates at the meeting said the G7 would agree in principle to change the basis of international corporate tax law for the first time in a century. The historic plan aims to force the world’s biggest companies to pay more tax in countries where they do business, not only where they are headquartered.

Financial Times . Chris Giles . https://www.ft.com/content/9eeba922-25a9-4a3a-960d-afca8d139909

G7 nations committing billions more to fossil fuel than green energy

The nations that make up the G7 have pumped billions of dollars more into fossil fuels than they have into clean energy since the Covid-19 pandemic, despite their promises of a green recovery.

The support for fossil fuels from seven of the world’s richest nations included measures to remove or downgrade environmental regulations as well as direct funding of oil, gas and coal.

Paul Cook, the head of advocacy at Tearfund, which operates in some of the poorest countries in the world most affected by global heating, said: “Every day, we witness the worsening consequences of the climate crisis for communities around the world – farmers’ crops failing; floods and fires engulfing towns and villages; families facing an uncertain future.

The Guardian . By Sandra Laville .https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jun/02/g7-nations-committing-billions-more-to-fossil-fuel-than-green-energy

‘Stop talking, start acting’ on plastic waste, Chris Packham urges G7

300 million tonnes of plastic waste is produced every year but less than 10% of all plastic has ever been recycled. Calling for the issue to be a priority at next month’s G7 summit in Cornwall, television presenter Chris Packham, along with Nestlé, the Co-op, and Aldi, as well as raft of politicians and NGOs are all urging the government to set out a globally aligned approach to deal with the problem.

Independent .  Harry Cockburn . https://www.independent.co.uk/climate-change/news/chris-packham-plastic-pollution-g7-b1854436.html

UK ranked worst in G7 for losing wildlife and wild spaces

‘We should all be alarmed that while Boris Johnson is saying the right things, this is not translating into action in Westminster,’ says RSPB chief.

Independent – https://www.independent.co.uk/independentpremium/g7-uk-wildlife-environment-b1847618.html

Migrant crossings: Almost 200 people cross English Channel

Nine boats carrying almost 200 migrants crossed the English Channel in one day.

The Home Office said a further 53 people were prevented on Thursday from making the journey by French authorities, who stopped three boats.

A Home Office spokesman said: “Criminal gangs are putting people’s lives at risk. These dangerous and unnecessary crossings to the UK from safe EU countries are taking advantage of our broken asylum system, which is why we are working to fix it.”

BBC . https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-kent-57118482

Dominic Raab welcomes G7 foreign ministers to London for first face-to-face talks in two years as they discuss ‘rising threats’ from China and Russia

Asked what message the summit communique to be issued on Wednesday will send to authoritarian regimes, Mr Raab said: ‘We believe in keeping trade open, we believe in standing up for open societies, for human rights and democracy, we believe in safeguarding and promoting public good, whether it is the environment and tackling climate change, particularly with (climate change summit) Cop26 coming up in November, but also dealing with pandemics and public health more generally.’

G7 ministers will invest 15 billion US dollars (£10.9 billion) in development finance over the next two years to help women in developing countries access jobs, build resilient businesses and recover from the impacts of Covid-19.

They are also expected to sign up to new targets to get 40 million more girls into school, and 20 million more girls reading by the age of 10 in poorer nations by 2026, the FCDO said.

But the commitments come as Mr Raab faces sustained criticism for cuts to foreign aid, from 0.7% of national income to 0.5%, citing the financial impact of the pandemic.Those attending were also due to discuss violence in Ethiopia, Iran and North Korea, Somalia, the Sahel and western Balkans, as part of what the UK Government said were ‘pressing geopolitical issues that threaten to undermine democracy, freedoms and human rights’. 

By JACK MAIDMENT and JAMES ROBINSON . Link – https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9539849/G7-pushes-solidarity-tackle-global-threats.html?ito=email_share_article-factbox 

G7 leaders told to scrap discriminatory gender laws from statute books

(This article is more than 1 year old) G7 leaders at the summit in Biarritz. 

The G7 leaders have been told to get rid of discriminatory gender laws that still exist on their statute books and begin enshrining equal rights in the legal system.

Discriminatory laws range from the UK’s legal position on child marriage, to limits on free contraception in Germany, or regressive laws on abortion in certain US states and a lack of federal law guaranteeing paid maternity leave.

The leaders were addressed by the Nobel laureate Nadia Murad – a Yazidi woman from Iraq who was kidnapped and raped by Islamic State before she escaped, going on to become a human rights campaigner –– and Denis Mukwege a Congolese gynaecologist who has treated tens of thousands of rape survivors.

The Guardian . Angelique Chrisafis. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/aug/25/g7-leaders-told-to-scrap-discriminatory-gender-laws-from-statute-books

Mums too poor to buy nappies, 200 rise in families using food banks – why Biden’s G7 heaven is hell for residents

But as Boris Johnson, Joe Biden, Angela Merkel and Co discuss cancelling Third World debt, they will be doing so in one of the poorest parts of Britain — where thousands struggle to feed their families or buy nappies for their babies. 

The use of local food banks has soared by 200 per cent in the last year alone. 

“People think Cornwall is the second home of the rich and famous — well, a small part might be but the rest of us are really struggling. 

“We’ve got a real problem here. I’ve been out of work for ten months and using the food bank for six months because it’s the only way me and my ten-year-old son can eat.

https://zoecameron.co.uk/mental-health-living-on-the-streets/

The Sun. Ben Griffiths . Graeme Culliford https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/15039466/g7-heaven-hell-cornwall-poor-food-banks/

Government continued to source PPE from Malaysia suppliers accused of modern slavery 

Gloves manufactured by a company under investigation for labour abuses, are being used by frontline healthcare workers in the NHS. The government continued to source personal protective equipment (PPE) from companies facing modern slavery allegations, despite promises to crack down on suppliers accused of labour abuses, The Independent can reveal.

The Independent . Samuel Lovett . https://www.independent.co.uk/news/health/covid-ppe-gloves-malaysia-nhs-government-latest-b1812320.html