- Title: G7 communique on vaccines, climate finance 'bitterly disappointing' - Oxfam
- Date: 13th June 2021
- Summary: FALMOUTH, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (RECENT - JUNE 12, 2021) (REUTERS) OXFAM ACTIVISTS WEARING PAPIER MACHE HEADS DEPICTING G7 LEADERS SITTING ON DECKCHAIRS AT THE BEACH ACTIVISTS DRESSED IN COSTUME AS G7 WORLD LEADERS FALMOUTH, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (JUNE 13, 2021) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) OXFAM HEAD OF INEQUALITY POLICY, MAX LAWSON, SAYING: "We're bitterly disappointed to see the lack of action that's needed. This is seven of the most powerful countries in the world. What they do matters, and when they decide to do very little and look at spin instead of substance - to cook the books, to cook the planet - then that's just not good enough. So yes, we're really disappointed. They could have done a lot more and they failed." (SOUNDBITE) (English) OXFAM HEAD OF INEQUALITY POLICY, MAX LAWSON, SAYING: "I think never before in the history of the G7 has there been such a big failure in contrast to what needs to be done. We have a once in a century pandemic, absolutely unprecedented. We have nine years to save the planet. It's really hard to exaggerate the scale of what needs to be done. so if you look at what they've done in the last few days and compare it to that then you really can't call it anything more than an abject failure." FALMOUTH, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (RECENT - JUNE 11, 2021) (REUTERS) OXFAM ACTIVISTS WEARING PAPIER MACHE HEADS DEPICTING G7 LEADERS HOLDING GIANT SYRINGE ACTIVISTS WITH PAPER MACHE HEADS DEPICTING BRITISH PRIME MINISTER BORIS JOHNSON, GERMAN CHANCELLOR ANGELA MERKEL, CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER JUSTIN TRUDEAU, JAPANESE PRIME MINISTER YOSHIHIDE SUGA AND ITALIAN PRIME MINISTER MARIO DRAGHI PULLING ON ONE SIDE OF GIANT SYRINGE ACTIVISTS WITH PAPER MACHE HEADS DEPICTING U.S. PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN AND FRENCH PRESIDENT EMMANUEL MACRON PULLING ON OTHER SIDE OF GIANT SYRINGE FALMOUTH, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (JUNE 13, 2021) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) OXFAM HEAD OF INEQUALITY POLICY, MAX LAWSON, SAYING: "We need 11 billion doses (of COVID-19 vaccine), we don't need a billion, and even the billion they're cooking the books. I mean, it's just a fudge, it's not enough. It's absolutely not enough and it's not just Oxfam. The WHO has said we need far, far more and we need them now. And we also need them to share the intellectual property. Developing countries need the rights and the recipes to make their own vaccines, not relying on charity, the largesse, of the G7. So it's completely inadequate on battling the coronavirus crisis." FALMOUTH, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (RECENT - JUNE 12, 2021) (REUTERS) MESSAGE IN AN INFLATABLE BOTTLE READING 'CLIMATE SOS'/ PAPIER MACHE G7 LEADERS FALMOUTH, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (JUNE 13, 2021) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) OXFAM HEAD OF INEQUALITY POLICY, MAX LAWSON, SAYING: "Poor countries desperately need money to help them cope with climate change. The rains are failing, their crops are failing, people are going hungry. They have been promising 100 billion dollars since at least 2010. It's really good if they deliver it but hardly any of that is the kind of money that will make a big difference and we just need a lot more. If we want to have a really ambitious and successful deal on climate change at the end of this year then we were expecting the G7 to really step up, say how much carbon they're going to cut, slash their emissions, and deliver much more money for the poorest countries." FALMOUTH, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (RECENT - JUNE 11, 2021) (REUTERS) PAPER MACHE G7 LEADERS DOING TUG OF WAR WITH GIANT SYRINGE GIANT SYRINGE MERKEL / JOHNSON / SYRINGE / BIDEN / MACRON FALMOUTH, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (JUNE 13, 2021) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) OXFAM HEAD OF INEQUALITY POLICY, MAX LAWSON, SAYING: "I think on coronavirus we need an emergency global summit in the coming months to really deliver the kinds of numbers of doses that the WHO are calling for - 11 billion doses are what we need to vaccinate the world, and we need to break through the monopolies of pharmaceutical firms so that every manufacturer in the world, in South Africa, in India, can produce these vaccines and not rely on charity. And on climate we need to see all of the G7 show much much more dramatic cuts in carbon. The plan is to do that ahead of the summit in Glasgow, because unless they do that, as I said, the other big nations in the world aren't here - China, India. There's just no incentive for them to do what's necessary either, so I think those things can still happen but they should have happened here." PEOPLE ON BOAT HARBOUR G7 SIGN
- Embargoed: 27th June 2021 15:51
- Keywords: G7 Summit Oxfam charity negotiations reaction world leaders
- Location: FALMOUTH, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM
- City: FALMOUTH, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM
- Country: United Kingdom
- Topics: Europe,G7,Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA001EH8HTMV
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Oxfam said it was "bitterly disappointed" with a G7 communique issued on Sunday (June 13), which included pledges for 1 billion COVID-19 vaccine doses and to boost climate finance.
The Group of Seven nations pledged to provide one billion COVID-19 vaccinations to help poorer countries vaccinate their populations, and agreed to raise their contributions to meet an overdue spending pledge of $100 billion a year to help poorer countries cut carbon emissions and cope with global warming.
But charity Oxfam said that more could have been done.
"I think never before in the history of the G7 has there been such a big failure in contrast to what needs to be done," said Head of Inequality Policy at Oxfam, Max Lawson.
He said that 11 billion doses of vaccine, "a lot more" climate finance and pledges for "much more dramatic cuts in carbon" were needed.
Lawson also called for an emergency global summit to tackle the COVID-19 crisis in the coming months.
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