Press release

UK hosts G7 foreign ministers' meeting in London

The first in-person meeting of G7 foreign and development ministers takes place in London from 3 to 5 May 2021.

• From: Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office and The Rt Hon Dominic Raab
• Published: 2 May 2021
• Last updated: 5 May 2021 — See all updates

This was published under the 2019 to 2022 Johnson Conservative government

• the event will be first face-to-face meeting of G7 Foreign and Development Ministers in over 2 years

• the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) invited to the G7 Foreign & Development Ministers’ meeting for the first time, alongside India, as UK deepens ties with the Indo-Pacific region

• ministers will discuss tackling new global threats, defending democracy, protecting human rights, bold climate action and building back better from the pandemic

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.

Updates on the G7 Foreign and Development Ministers’ Meeting

• G7 Foreign and Development Ministers’ Meeting communiqué
• Chair’s statement on guest participation

Announcements

• UK secures G7 action to tackle global challenges and threats
• UK unites G7 to take action against democratic threats
• G7 to boost girls’ education and women’s employment in recovery from COVID-19 pandemic

Bilateral talks

G7 members:

• Canada: Foreign Secretary’s meeting with Canadian Minister for Foreign Affairs Marc Garneau
• France: Foreign Secretary’s meeting with French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian
• Germany: Foreign Secretary’s meeting with German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas
• Italy: Foreign Secretary’s meeting with Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio
• Japan: UK and Japan agree strengthened trade and security partnership ahead of G7 meeting
• USA:
  • Foreign Secretary’s meeting with US Secretary of State Blinken
  • UK-US joint press conference: Foreign Secretary’s statement
• EU: Foreign Secretary’s meeting with EU High Representative and Vice President of the Commission Josep Borrell

G7 guests:

• Australia: Foreign Secretary’s meeting with Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs Marise Payne
• India: Foreign Secretary’s virtual meeting with Indian Minister of External Affairs Dr Jaishankar
• South Africa: Foreign Secretary’s meeting with South African Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Naledi Pandor
• South Korea: Foreign Secretary meeting with Republic of Korea Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong
• ASEAN chair: Foreign Secretary’s meeting with Brunei Foreign Minister II Dato Erywan

Media enquiries

Email newsdesk@fcdo.gov.uk

Telephone 020 7008 3100

Contact the FCDO Communication Team via email (monitored 24 hours a day) in the first instance, and we will respond as soon as possible.

Published 2 May 2021
Last updated 5 May 2021 + show all updates

1. 5 May 2021

   Updated with links to related announcements, meeting statements and the communiqué

2. 2 May 2021

   First published.