G7 summit kicks off in UK amid anger over hollow promises
Saeed Pourreza
Press TV, Cornwall
Another summit, another raft of empty promises, say these climate activists of the latest meeting of the seven of the world’s most powerful economies.
Front and center in the three day summit, free and fair trade, global covid vaccination, post-covid economic recovery, Brexit, and the climate emergency.
Together, the US, Canada, Japan, Britain, France, Germany and Italy account for half of the world’s GDP, and together, they’re major contributors to the environmental crisis facing the world today.
Hosted by the UK which holds the G7 rotating presidency, the event is a chance for Britain to burnish its post brexit image. It also provides the US president, Joe Biden on his first trip abroad since his election to the white house, to repair some of the damage done by his predecessor.
Also invited to the gathering, Australia, South Korea, and South Africa. India’s attendance was waylaid by a covid crisis ravaging the country for weeks now. Also absent, Russia, and China. G7 critics say it excludes those it should get involved in the decision makings.
The summit also comes amid simmering tensions between the UK and the EU over the implementation of the Brexit divorce deal, particularly the northern ireland protocol. In recent days, firm reactions from the US and Europe.
Tight security provided by more than 6500 police officers from across the UK has made it impossible for the demonstrators to get anywhere near the venue of the summit in Cornwall, southeast England, one of the country’s most impoverished regions where poverty and employment levels have quadrupled during the pandemic. But the demonstrators are unfazed. Many more will descend upon the area throughout the weekend to make their voices heard.
The world leaders say the summit is an opportunity to come together and tackle issues of global concern but to the activists here, it’s just another talking shop of pledges that never realized, at least not until now.
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