Cornwall will benefit from new investment in its town centres and natural landscape under plans announced by the Prime Minister to create a long-term legacy from the G7 Summit.

Later this week world leaders will gather in Carbis Bay in Cornwall for crucial discussions on world issues. Against the backdrop of the Cornish coast they are expected to agree action to tackle climate change, protect nature and lead a recovery from coronavirus that works for everyone across the length and breadth of our countries.

The Town Deals announced for Penzance, St Ives and Camborne are worth over £65 million and will fund projects at the heart of communities in some of Cornwall’s most deprived areas.

This includes creating a new network of foot and cycle paths across Camborne, Penzance and from St Ives to St Erth. Community hubs including theatres, sports clubs and historic buildings will also be restored and expanded to ensure both residents and visitors can fully enjoy the cultural heritage of the region.

Other funding will go to sustain businesses and commercial sectors most badly hit by the coronavirus pandemic and to create new business hubs in the towns which will re-establish them as economic powerhouses and centres of innovation – creating long term, sustainable jobs.

Cornwall is renowned for its beauty and landscape. The region has over 700km of coastline and 27% of Cornwall is already designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. However, biodiversity is declining in the area at a faster rate than the UK average. Over the last 30 years the populations of almost half of breeding birds have declined and half of land mammals and almost two-thirds of butterflies are found in fewer places.

To reverse the decline in biodiversity and restore Cornwall’s natural environment the Government, in partnership with Natural England and the Cornwall Wildlife Trust, is launching a major land restoration and regeneration programme across 21,000 hectares of land. This nature recovery project involves planting trees, restoring peat, making improvements to water quality, recreating scarce habitats and reintroducing lost and declining species such as dormice and the marsh fritillary butterfly.

These plans will ensure the beauty and biodiversity of Cornwall’s landscape is safeguarded for future generations and will establish the region as a role model both across the UK and around the world when it comes to looking after the natural environment.

This restoration will provide a huge boost to Cornwall’s efforts to become the first net zero region in the UK. Reforestation and the restoration of wetlands through the project will take an estimated 440,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere.

To help Cornwall reach net zero faster the Government has also announced a package of measures to help individuals and companies take steps to reduce their carbon footprint. This includes:

Up to £1 million of innovation funding earmarked for businesses in Cornwall to support their development of technologies, products and processes in energy efficiency, power generation and energy storage. Establishing Cornwall as a pilot area for a new e-bike support scheme – e-bikes are the only electric vehicles not to receive grants at present. Subject to full business case approval Cornwall will also receive up to £150k to design and build ‘Kernosat’, a small satellite which will be used to monitor the local environment, with the potential for it to be launched from a UK spaceport next year.

As well as protecting the health and diversity of this beautiful part of the world, the creation of a nature recovery area and decarbonisation efforts will support local farming businesses, create hundreds of skilled green jobs and apprenticeships and boost local tourism – establishing a long-lasting green legacy from the G7 Summit.

The Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, said:

As the eyes of the world look to Cornwall this week, not only will they see an area of outstanding beauty, they will witness a region that is innovative, exciting and looking firmly towards a bright future.

The exciting projects we have announced today are a fitting legacy for a region playing host to some of the most important diplomatic talks in a generation. As the world builds back better from coronavirus, Cornwall will lead the way.

The Government is working closely with Cornish leaders and institutions to shape the long-term legacy for the region from hosting the G7.

The Summit this week will profile local contractors – including its website being designed in Cornwall, tables for the Summit being made in Falmouth and gifts for world leaders being sourced from St Ives. Ahead of the Summit the Government has also made a £7.8m investment into Cornwall Airport Newquay’s facilities.

Visit Cornwall estimates the total economic impact for the county of hosting the G7 Summit will be £50 million – £24m during the event itself, and over £26m from future growth in the international tourist market over the next five years.

The UK has set the world’s most ambitious climate change target to reduce emissions by 78% by 2035 compared to 1990 levels, putting us on the path to achieve net zero by 2050. The UK is cutting emissions faster than any other G7 country and later this year the we will host the COP26 Summit in Glasgow to take forward international action on tackling climate change.

Natural England Chair, Tony Juniper, said:

We are very pleased to announce this new G7 environmental legacy project in Cornwall. It will assist with Nature recovery through reconnecting habitats and ecosystems across the region, contributing to the conservation of rare species, carbon capture and improved water quality.

When children across the country put down their pens and pencils and filed out of classrooms on 5 January, we did not know when and how they would return. The UK was destined for a third national lockdown – meaning lost learning, and children being deprived of the kind of formative experiences you can only get when you pass through the school gates.

Three months on and more than 50 million tests later, the reopening of schools can be chalked up as a resounding success. The national reunion of children with their teachers and their classmates was no happy accident; it was one of the government’s top priorities, and it’s been the result of a huge collective endeavour.

Schools have been a shining example of how regular testing can help us find new cases quickly and stop the disease spreading further. It has shown what can be achieved when everyone involved – from the parents, pupils and teachers, to the maintenance and kitchen staff – are united behind a common goal: getting kids back into the classroom safely.

From the get-go, we recognised that we needed to do so as quickly as we could. Granted, thanks to the steely determination of our teachers, and the exceptional willingness of parents to take on teaching responsibilities and transform their homes into makeshift virtual schools, many children could continue to study. But there’s no substitute for face-to-face learning.

To reopen safely, we knew that we had to rethink how we keep children and teachers safe at school. The science all pointed to the need for regular testing, which could serve as an early warning system, able to spot outbreaks, and arming local directors of public health with data, data, data.

And because around one-in-three people with COVID-19 show no symptoms –meaning cases going under the radar – we knew the centrepiece of this approach had to be rapid testing using lateral flow devices – or LFDs. Unlike PCR swab tests used for people with symptoms, lateral flow tests do not need to be sent to a laboratory, and are perfect to use on an everyday basis for people not showing any symptoms. They have proved a huge help not only in reopening schools, but in keeping them open.

For anyone reading this who is yet to use one, a lateral flow test is the testing equivalent of a Formula 1 pitstop – providing a lightning speed result in under half an hour. They’re easy to use and effective at providing us all with a snap verdict on whether we could be unwittingly carrying the virus.

Like a vaccine, LFDs are at their most useful when used en masse. So, uptake in schools was always going to be vital – placing great responsibility in the hands of headteachers, teachers and learning assistants everywhere to encourage their students to make a test part of their routine.

But instead of viewing it as a burden, teachers in schools across the whole country enthusiastically rose to the challenge. I’ve heard powerful accounts of teachers sharing best practices with schools in their area, engaging with parents to stress the value of taking a regular test and building it into children’s day-to-day schedules.

By making a COVID-19 test part of their everyday routine – as normal for some families as preparing a packed lunch or completing their homework – they’ve demonstrated how these tests can underpin the reopening of other things we all love.

Every positive test result is then backed up by a confirmatory PCR test which not only offers a second opinion, it screens the test result for variants of concern using the game-changing technology hosted in our sequencing laboratories. As this virus continues to evolve and attempts to bypass our defences, it is these capabilities that will help us outmanoeuvre the virus in the long term.

We’ve made it easier than ever to get one, with every single person in the country entitled to pick up two a week from their local pharmacy or have them delivered directly to their homes.

Today, children are heading back to school for the final half of the summer term and they’ll be doing so safe in the knowledge that the only break in learning they’ll be having is one where they head into the playground to kick a ball round and play games with their friends. Parents and guardians have been instrumental so far and, as they return to the classroom this morning, I’d urge every parent or guardian to test their children today.

50 million tests have got us here, here’s to 50 million more. Let’s not lose what’s been achieved so far.

Today, the governments of the United Kingdom, Norway and the United States (the Troika) signed the Juba Peace Agreement as Witnesses in a signal of political support to the Agreement. Having welcomed the Agreement in October 2020, this further step demonstrates our commitment to the success of the Agreement and its potential to help meet the calls of the Sudanese people for freedom, peace, and justice, including for those affected by conflict in Darfur, South Kordofan and Blue Nile states, as well as other historically marginalised parts of Sudan. We urge immediate steps to fully implement and adhere to the agreed timelines set forth in the transitional Constitutional Document and the Juba Peace Agreement, including the formation of key institutions such as the Transitional Legislative Council.

We take this opportunity to commend the parties to the Agreement for the progress that has been made since October 2020, including the expansion of government to include wider representation. We also commend the progress made by Prime Minister Hamdok and the transitional government in delivering vital reforms that are essential for the transition to democracy to succeed, including economic and legal reforms. We do, however, recognise that efforts to deliver key provisions of the Agreement must be increased, including the formation of the joint force and the establishment of the ceasefire monitoring mechanism to help protect civilians in Darfur from conflict and violence.

Accountability must also be prioritised, including for gender-based violence and conflict related sexual violence, to strengthen the rule of law and protection of civilians. We welcome the parties’ commitment to full and unlimited cooperation with the ICC over Sudanese individuals subject to arrest warrants. Moving forward we call for full, equal and meaningful participation of women at all levels of governance and in legislation, including in the peace process. We know from experience and research that inclusivity leads to a more sustainable peace and a more democratic society.

UNITAMS plays a key role in supporting implementation of the Juba Peace Agreement. We encourage Sudan’s national and local authorities to facilitate and cooperate with the UN mission and UN Country Team in supporting speedy implementation of the Agreement. As progress is made the Troika will continue to stand with Sudan and its people. Our signatures today signal that commitment.

The Troika also welcomes the agreement on a Declaration of Principles between the Government of Sudan and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North/Abdelaziz al-Hilu and encourages both sides to reach agreement on ending their conflict so all Sudanese can play a part in the transitional process. We also continue to make our call for the Sudan Liberation Movement/ Abdulwahid al-Nur to begin talks as part of achieving a comprehensive peace involving all major armed movements. The Government of Sudan has described the Juba Peace Agreement as ‘Phase One’ of the peace process and the negotiations with al-Hilu and al-Nur as ‘Phase Two’.

The Troika consider the implementation of the Juba Peace Agreement and the simultaneous ‘Phase Two’ negotiations to be of equal importance and we believe the success of Sudan’s transitional period rests on finding unity in diversity based on equal rights and building sustainable development through inclusive policies. The Troika looks forward to continuing our support for the parties in delivering peace, stability, and democracy for all Sudanese.