U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson kicked off the 47th G7 summit in England on Friday with a request for his fellow world leaders to ensure their recovery from the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic is "greener" and "more feminine."
Following the family photo of member country leaders on a beach in Cornwall, the heads of state from around the world sat down to begin their annual discussions.
"It is vital that we don't repeat the mistake of the last great crisis—the last great economic recession—in 2008 when the recovery was not uniform across all parts of society," Johnson explained. "I think what's gone wrong with this pandemic, or what risks being a lasting scar is that... inequalities may be entrenched."
"We need to make sure that as we recover, we level-up across our societies and we build back better," Johnson decreed, borrowing a campaign slogan from President Joe Biden, who was seated next to his counterpart from across the pond.
"I think that we have a huge opportunity to do that because as G7, we are united in our vision for a cleaner, greener, world—a solution to the problems of climate change," Johnson added, before waxing poetic about an intersectional recovery.
.@BorisJohnson: G7 nations must build back in a “greener,” “more gender neutral and perhaps a more feminine way” pic.twitter.com/nLbYzGDk7d
— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) June 11, 2021
"The people of our countries now want us to be sure that we're beating the pandemic together, and discussing how we'll never have a repeat of what we've seen but also that we're building back better together. And building back greener, and building back fairer, and building back more equal and—how shall I—in a more gender-neutral, and perhaps a more feminine, way—how about that—apart from anything else."