The G7 group of wealthy countries meeting in Britain reached agreement Sunday on a slew of shared priorities, spanning the coronavirus pandemic, climate change, the global economy and foreign policy.

Here are highlights from the 25-page summit communique issued by the leaders of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States:

- Covid-19 -

Vowing to end the pandemic and prepare for possible future outbreaks, the G7 leaders committed to donate one billion vaccine doses over the next year.

That takes their total overall pledges to two billion shots -- falling far short of the 11 billion that health organisations say will be needed to vaccinate the world.

The allies adopted a pact -- the "Carbis Bay Declaration", named after the resort in Cornwall where they met -- to strengthen their collective defences against future health threats.

It aims to improve early warning systems and support a bid to be able to develop safe and effective vaccines, treatments and virus tests within 100 days.

- Climate, nature -

The group promised a "green revolution" that cuts emissions, halts and reverses biodiversity loss -- all while creating jobs -- ahead of the key COP26 UN climate summit in November.

Reaffirming prior pledges to going carbon neutral by 2050, the leaders agreed to halve their collective emissions by 2030 from 2010 levels.

They vowed to phase out the use of "unabated coal" -- fuel whose emissions have not gone through any filtering -- "as soon as possible".

Issuing a "nature compact", they also pledged to conserve or protect at least 30 percent of the world's land and ocean waters by 2030.

"We acknowledge our duty to safeguard the planet for future generations," they said.

But environmental groups were highly critical, with Greenpeace saying the communique had "failed to set us up for a successful COP26".

- Economic issues -

Building on a deal struck last week by G7 finance ministers, the leaders endorsed a plan to introduce a global minimum corporate tax rate of 15 percent, to reverse what they called "the race to the bottom".

They also vowed to champion "freer, fairer trade" through reforms encompassing the World Trade Organization.

The allies said they would sustain their pandemic recovery plans with continued investment, "shifting the focus of our support from crisis response to promoting growth into the future".

They promised to create jobs, invest in infrastructure and drive innovation, noting past failures after global crises.

"We are determined that this time it will be different," they vowed.

However, economists as well as aid groups have warned that the rich world must better support the broader global recovery.

World Bank president David Malpass, who addressed G7 leaders at two summit sessions, warned Sunday that growth was currently "uneven" and "concentrated in a few major economies".

- Foreign policy -

The summit -- the G7's first in person in nearly two years due to the pandemic -- saw US President Joe Biden push for a stronger collective stance towards China and Russia.

In a direct bid to counter Beijing's "Belt and Road" infrastructure initiative, launched in 2013, the grouping announced its own "Build Back Better World" (B3W) drive to invest in poorer countries.

The US also led the group to call on China to "respect human rights and fundamental freedoms", referencing alleged forced labour practices in its western region of Xinjiang and the rolling back of freedoms in Hong Kong.

The G7 backed Taiwan and demanded freedom of navigation in the South China Sea, where Beijing has been installing a string of naval bases.

The leaders decried repression in Belarus and military-ruled Myanmar, and urged "a sustainable, inclusive political settlement" in Afghanistan as US-led NATO forces pull out after two decades of war.

Meanwhile the G7 called on Russia to end "destabilising behaviour and malign activities" internationally.

The bloc pledged to "hold to account those within its borders who conduct ransomware attacks, abuse virtual currency to launder ransoms, and other cybercrimes".

They also expressed their support for G7 member Japan's hosting of the pandemic-delayed 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Tokyo starting next month, "in a safe and secure manner as a symbol of global unity in overcoming Covid-19".

Campaigners criticise G7 pledges on virus, climate
Carbis Bay, United Kingdom (AFP) June 13, 2021 - Charities and campaigners were critical of the G7 pledges to tackle global crises including Covid-19 and climate change, as the summit ended in Cornwall, southwest England, on Sunday.

- 'Missed opportunity' -

"This summit will go down as a missed opportunity... when we needed 11 billion vaccines and we've only got offered a plan for one billion.

"We needed $50 billion allocated to the vaccination of the world and only $5 billion and I think this summit, I'm afraid, will also go down as an unforgivable moral failure, when the richest countries are sitting round the table with the power to do something about it.

"Now that we've discovered the vaccine, we have not set out the comprehensive plan that will deliver vaccination by the middle of next year...

"Millions of people will go unvaccinated and thousands of people, I'm afraid, will die."

- Britain's former prime minister Gordon Brown.

- 'Underwhelming'

"In the face of a once-in-a-generation pandemic that's raging across the world, this G7 will collectively be remembered in just one word: underwhelming...

"The collective ambition and action from the G7 failed to meet the urgency of the moment.

"The result of this uninspiring summit will be a prolonged pandemic that costs more lives and livelihoods, not only across the world but in the G7 countries themselves."

- Tom Hart, acting chief executive, The ONE Campaign.

- No IP waiver -

"The lack of urgent action to end the current crisis is unforgivable...

"To truly prepare against the next pandemic, we need a publicly funded and managed network of vaccine manufacturers around the world, free from the constraints of intellectual property."

- Anna Marriott, health policy manager at Oxfam

- Heads in the sand -

"This summit feels like a broken record of the same old promises. There's a new commitment to ending overseas investment in coal, which is their piece de resistance.

"But without agreeing to end all new fossil fuel projects -- something that must be delivered this year if we are to limit dangerous rises in global temperature -- this plan falls very short.

"The G7's plan doesn't go anywhere near far enough when it comes to a legally binding agreement to stop the decline of nature by 2030.

"And the finance being offered to poorer nations is simply not new, nor enough, to match the scale of the climate crisis.

"Boris Johnson and his fellow leaders have buried their heads in the Cornish sand rather than rising to the environmental challenge we all face."

- John Sauven, executive director Greenpeace UK

- Hollow words -

"This weekend has been full of hollow words with little more than spare change on the table to end support for fossil fuels and bring about the green revolution we desperately need....

"This could have been a springboard for successful climate talks in November, but without the cash, these promises are like writing in the sand and will do nothing to turn the tide of the climate emergency that is already devastating the lives of millions."

- Ruth Valerio, director of advocacy and influencing at Tearfund

- 'Partial plan' -

"We've heard warm words about a green Marshall Plan and ambitions to vaccinate the world, but this falls well short of what's needed.

"This is a partial plan not a Marshall Plan."

- Patrick Watts, director of policy, public affairs and campaigns, Christian Aid.

- 'Small clique' -

"There is only one kind of multilateralism, that is, the genuine multilateralism based on the purposes and principles of the UN Charter and international law, and featuring equal treatment, cooperation and mutual benefits, not pseudo-multilateralism serving the interests of a small clique or political bloc."

- Chinese embassy London spokesman

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