G7 Urged To Invest $1 Trillion Annually In Sustainable COVID-19 Pandemic Recovery - Report

G7 Urged to Invest $1 Trillion Annually in Sustainable COVID-19 Pandemic Recovery - Report

The Group of Seven should collectively invest $1 trillion per year during the next decade to guarantee that their economies are able to fully recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and make the transition to "sustainable, inclusive and resilient growth," an independent report requested by UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Monday

LONDON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 10th May, 2021) The Group of Seven should collectively invest $1 trillion per year during the next decade to guarantee that their economies are able to fully recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and make the transition to "sustainable, inclusive and resilient growth," an independent report requested by UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Monday.

According to the study written by Nicholas Stern, professor of Economics and Government at the London school of Economics and Political Science, the world's seven richest economies should set a collective goal to raise annual investment by 2 percent of their Gross Domestic Product above pre-pandemic levels for this decade and beyond, and improve the quality of investment by both the private and public sectors.

"This programme of investment, involving sustainable infrastructure development, the preservation and restoration of nature, and greater focus on innovation and skills, can provide strong economic multipliers to increase activity and jobs in the shorter run, and unleash discovery and productivity growth in the medium term," the report commissioned by Johnson ahead of the G7 summit to be held in Cornwall, England, in June, said.

It also urged the bloc made up of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, United Kingdom and the United States to act strongly to alleviate the debt constraints of poor and vulnerable countries by extending the debt service suspension initiative considering the potential of swapping it for nature and climate protection actions.

The author strongly recommended the G7 to double climate finance ahead of the UN Climate Change Conference, also known as COP26, scheduled for the Scottish city of Glasgow in November, in order to ensure the success of the event.

"Recovery, growth, innovation, climate and environmental benefits will all be much stronger with the world acting together. There has never been a more crucial moment for leadership from the G7," Stern said.

Addressing the virtual Petersberg Climate Dialogue last week, Johnson vowed to press fellow world leaders to make concrete commitments on net zero emissions and climate finance contributions ahead of the COP26, arguing that the climate conference must be a summit of action, "not words."