Newspaper column 17 June 2021 - G7 aftermath

Well just like that, the G7 Leader’s Summit is over and what an occasion it was for Cornwall!

While there were some major positive global announcements made at the summit, which I will come to later.  However, a personal highlight was getting to meet and greet US President Joe Biden from Air Force One.  I was honoured to represent Cornwall’s Members of Parliament at the official arrival ceremony. An experience, I will never forget.

Of course Falmouth and wider Cornwall was highlighted during the event and it was my pleasure to welcome the Prime Minister among others to the National Maritime Museum to talk about some of the exciting plans we have for both our town and the Truro and Falmouth constituency. The Prime Minister arrived on the Falmouth pilot boat and meant he got a fantastic view of the whole port.

On a much wider scale I was delighted to see the Carbis Bay declaration coming out of the G7. This saw the G7 leaders commit to using all their resources to prevent a global pandemic from ever happening again, with an historic statement setting out a series of concrete commitments to prevent any repeat of the human and economic devastation wreaked by coronavirus.

The Carbis Bay declaration incorporates the recommendations of the Pandemic Preparedness Partnership report, the ‘100 Days Mission to Respond to Future Pandemic Threats’, which contains actionable recommendations on how governments and others can quickly respond to any future outbreaks. The first 100 days after the identification of an epidemic threat are crucial to changing its course and, ideally, preventing it from becoming a pandemic, and sets out the other steps G7 countries will take to prevent a future pandemic. These include slashing the time taken to develop and licence vaccines, treatments and diagnostics for any future disease to under 100 days, a commitment to reinforce global surveillance networks and genomic sequencing capacity and support for reforming and strengthening the World Health Organization.

The summit also saw the G7 leaders endorse a Nature Compact to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030 – including supporting the global target to conserve or protect at least 30 percent of land and 30 percent of ocean globally by the end of the decade.

As part of this, the Prime Minister launched the UK’s Blue Planet Fund. This £500 million fund will support countries including Ghana, Indonesia and Pacific island states to tackle unsustainable fishing, protect and restore coastal ecosystems like mangroves and coral reefs, and reduce marine pollution.

There will be many memories made from having the G7 Leaders Summit in Cornwall as well as these important international decisions that have been made at a Cornish backdrop. Thank you to everyone who worked together to make it such a success and I hope the leaders will return to their countries inspired, energised and exhilarated, and take a little bit of what makes our Cornwall so special back with them.

As ever, if you need my assistance with anything then my team and I are here to help. Please get in touch with me by email at Cherilyn.mackrory.mp@parliament.uk , or by telephone on 01872 229698.