G7 Promises vs Reality: Daily Brief
G7 Summit needs to address vaccine inequity and climate change; the "dystopian hellscape" of Xinjiang, China; Syria's last aid lifeline; the European Parliament alarmed over Sri Lanka's rights situation; alarming new child labor figures; and Germany takes a positive step for corporate accountability.
As the G7 Summit in the UK begins, it should be an opportunity to accelerate efforts to tackle the global pandemic and climate change. Solving the inequities in access to Covid-19 medical tools means realizing that the world needs wider vaccine production globally. Promises to donate doses fall far short of that. On climate change, one key step G7 leaders should take is to end their state subsidies for fossil fuels.
A new report on China's Xinjiang by Amnesty International provides a comprehensive account of life inside the "re-education" camps, and concludes that the Chinese government has committed the crimes against humanity of imprisonment, torture, and persecution. What's more, Beijing imposes collective punishment on families of activists who dare to speak out abroad.
The Syrian authorities are obstructing aid from reaching parts of the country that are under the control of anti-government groups, making millions of people depend on an unauthorized UN lifeline. Russia is threatening to veto the use of this corridor at the UN Security Council, which would be “catastrophic” and could unleash a humanitarian crisis.
The European Parliament sent a powerful message to Sri Lanka’s government that the country's growing human rights violations will no longer be tolerated and may jeopardize bilateral and trade relations.
Ahead of the World Day against Child Labor, the International Labor Organization and UNICEF published new global estimate showing that child labor rates were rising even before Covid-19, and warning that nine million additional children are at risk as a result of COVID-19 pandemic.
Today, Germany took a positive first step to ensure companies operate responsibly. They will need to regularly and systematically identify and address human rights and environmental risks in their direct supply chain.