Joe Biden to attend maiden G7 summit as US President, will discuss COVID & climate change

US President Joe Biden on Friday will attend the G7 Munich Security Conference with fellow world leaders, where he is expected to discuss plans to defeat the COVID-19 pandemic and rebuild the global economy. The G7 meeting will be held virtually due to COVID-19 concerns. This will be the first G7 meeting since April 2020 and the first for Biden as President of the United States. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said that Biden will discuss the importance of global coordination to improve production, distribution, and supplies of COVID-19 vaccines. 

Read: Beijing Hits Back At US For Saying It Will Raise 'China Challenge' At Upcoming G7 Meet

"President Biden will focus on a global response to the COVID pandemic, including coordination on vaccine production, distribution, and supplies, as well as continued efforts to mobilize and cooperate against the threat of emerging infectious diseases by building country capacity and establishing health security financing," Psaki said in a press briefing on Thursday. 

Read: Myanmar Crisis: G7 Countries Express Concern, Demand Military To Restore Power

China on table

Biden will also discuss the need to make investments to strengthen "collective competitiveness" and the importance of updating global rules to tackle the economic challenges, including those posed by China. Biden and other leaders will also discuss climate change and measures to address the issue with sustainable development plans for the future as countries recover from the COVID-19 impact. 

Biden will seek to earn back the trust of other members, given the nationalistic approach adopted by his predecessor Donald Trump, whose America-centered policies created a gap amongst the members of G7 in the past couple of years.  

Read: Queen Elizabeth II 'to Host Joe Biden At Buckingham Palace' Ahead Of G7 Summit

The G7 Conference will also see another new face in Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi, who was recently asked by Italian President Sergio Mattarella to form a government after Giuseppe Conte resigned. The February 19 meeting will be hosted by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, a first for the United Kingdom since it fully left the European Union. 

Read: UK Invites PM Modi To Attend G7 Summit 2021, Event To Be Held In June