What did the G7 do for us?
Occasionally, just occasionally, it can be difficult to believe politicians. So putting a group of national leaders together, with the express intention of taking joint positive international action for the greater good, may just seem like asking for trouble. It can be tricky to unpick personal and national imperatives from the wider shared goals and promises. Then those too may also be watered down, if not in the expression, then certainly in the execution. So the promises of the recent G7 summit in Cornwall may seem to offer thin pickings for real progress. But it is easy to be cynical and equally easy to miss opportunities when they are hidden underneath a bit of spin. Subtle changes to the landscape The key achievements included new commitments towards climate action, global taxation, girls’ education, WTO reform, the pandemic recovery, and vaccine distribution – plus a more unified approach to China. So far so good. Amongst other things, the G7 committed to accelerating efforts