Opening three days of talks with fellow G7 leaders in Cornwall, southwest England on Friday, Johnson said there was a risk the pandemic could leave a “lasting scar” as “inequalities may be entrenched”.
He said it’s vital that governments and international institutions don’t make the same mistakes they did after the financial crisis, “when the recovery was not uniform across all parts of society.”
The British leader said the goal should be to “level up across our societies” and “build back better”.
With the pandemic raging in much of the world, a global economy still in shock and threats rising from Russia and China, the G7 summit is shaping up to potentially be one of the most consequential in recent memory.
US President Joe Biden has ramped up those stakes, framing the moment as one just as momentous as the years during and after World War II, when the US, the United Kingdom and their allies worked together to help the world recover.
Biden, on his first presidential trip abroad, also sat down for his first face-to-face meeting with Johnson in a photo-op designed to replicate a historic World War II alliance. He’s sought to convey a message of unity after four years of fractured alliances under then-President Donald Trump.
Leaders of the G7, which include Britain, the United States, Germany, France, Italy, Canada and Japan, are expected to commit to sharing at least 1 billion vaccine doses with countries that are struggling to secure enough shots.
The US is providing about half of those shots (500 million) and Johnson is expected to pledge another 100 million shots.
While Australia will commit at least 20 million vaccine doses, Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced on Friday night ahead of the G7 meeting.
The leaders of the world’s advanced economies gathered Friday on the Cornish coast for the first time since the global coronavirus pandemic began.
Earlier in the day, Mr Johnson was joined by his new wife Carrie Johnson for the arrivals to officially open the summit.
The newlyweds greeted leaders and their spouses from the Group of Seven nations as well as the European Union on a wooden boardwalk on the freshly raked sand of Carbis Bay.
G7 summit opens with elbow bumps on UK beach
Elbow bumps replaced handshakes and there was small talk about social distancing and the weather, under typically moody English skies.
Johnson, who wed the former Carrie Symonds last month, later joked it was like walking down the aisle.
The leaders all then came together for the traditional “family photo” to commemorate the summit.
– Reported with Associated Press and CNN
