UK hosts G7 foreign ministers’ meeting in London

London: G7 foreign and development ministers will travel to London this week for their first in-person gathering in more than 2 years. Talks will be hosted at a COVID-secure venue in the centre of the city from Monday to Wednesday.

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab will seek to establish ambitious targets on climate finance and girls’ education, a co-ordinated approach to strengthening global health and new measures to prevent famine. He will unite ministers from the world’s leading democracies – including for the first time, a delegation representing ASEAN.

The G7 talks are an opportunity to bring together diplomacy and development to secure significant progress towards the UK’s G7 Presidency goals of building back better together from the COVID-19 pandemic, ahead of the Leaders’ Summit in Cornwall in June.

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said:

This week’s G7 meeting shows Global Britain bringing the world’s biggest democracies together to tackle shared challenges.

We’ll be taking action to ensure fair access to vaccines around the world, setting global girls’ education targets, agreeing ambitious action on climate change and developing new measures to prevent famine.

COVID measures will be in place throughout the meetings, to ensure the health and wellbeing of all staff, attendees, and the public. This includes an on-site testing facility at the venue, social distancing measures and Perspex screens to separate delegates in meetings. There will be strict limits on the size of delegations and attendees will be required to take regular tests. The meetings will be a demonstration of how to conduct diplomatic business safely and successfully as we recover from the pandemic.

As well as G7 countries (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the US and UK, plus the EU) the Foreign Secretary has also invited Australia, India, the Republic of Korea, South Africa, and the Chair of the ASEAN, to join parts of this year’s G7 Foreign and Development Ministers’ meeting as guests.

Their attendance will bring broader geographic representation of nations committed to reforming and safeguarding the international order in which open societies and economies flourish. It also demonstrates the importance of the Indo-Pacific region to upholding shared values and norms.

Throughout the week the Foreign Secretary will host bilateral meetings with each of the G7 foreign ministers and invited guests. On Bank Holiday Monday, he will meet US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in London for talks on issues including trade, China, Afghanistan and Iran.

Dominic Raab will also host the Japanese Foreign Minister, Toshimitsu Motegi, at Chevening to deepen trade and security cooperation and agree a shared approach on the security of the Indo-Pacific region.

He will also meet Indian Minister of External Affairs, Dr Jaishankar, at Chevening. They will discuss the UK’s commitment to working with India to tackle COVID-19, following the UK Prime Minister’s pledge that the UK will support India’s fight against the pandemic.