Johnny O'Shea
BBC News Online

A graveyard showing things that will go as climate change develops has been set up in a garden near the G7 media centre.

Jennifer Hudson from Falmouth helped her parents set up the protest display.

It has a model of the grim reaper standing over a graveyard, alongside a number of messages including “tick tock” and ‘100 seconds to midnight”.

The 17-year-old says the display shows a “graveyard of things that will go when climate change has got too bad to fix it”.

She says she hopes it will get people to take notice and “make the leaders take real action”.

Image source, Ocean Rebellion

As leaders of some of the world's richest countries gather for G7 talks, protesters in eye-catching costumes are hoping to gain some attention for their cause.

Ocean Rebellion has staged theatrical action with a mass stranding of mermaids tangled in trawler nets on a beach near where the summit is being held.

The group says it wants G7 leaders to "put the ocean at the top of the agenda, where it belongs."

Image source, Ocean Rebellion

Meanwhile a parade of life sized Pikachus are calling on the Japanese government to end all coal burning at home and overseas.

The Pokémon characters from the No Coal Japan coalition are frolicking on the beach at Falmouth, peacefully calling on the Japanese government to stop burning coal by 2030.

They are holding placards with the words "Japan - stop funding coal" and waving flags of the G7 countries.

Image source, No Coal Japan

We are hearing that leaders at the G7 summit have come to the end of their talks for the afternoon.

They're now making their way to the Eden Project for this evening's reception, where they will be joined by the Queen, the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

The Royal Train has already been seen making its way down to the south-west.

Image source, MELISSA HIGHTON

And after Biden presented Johnson with a bike built in Philadelphia, Johnson in return gifted the US president with a photograph of a mural from Edinburgh.

The mural depicts famed US anti-slavery activist Frederick Douglass, who toured parts of Britain in the 1800s after escaping slavery.

The image of Frederick Douglass was painted by Ross Blair and the photograph was taken by Melissa Highton - a UK-US dual national.

Blair tells BBC Scotland he was surprised to receive a call from the Home Office a few weeks ago asking for permission to give the image to the president.

The street artist says: "It's a great honour and a massive global platform.

"To think it could potentially be hanging on a wall in the White House is fantastic and very exciting. It is a great accolade and acknowledgement."

Read more:

PM gifts photo of Edinburgh anti-slavery mural to Biden

The Philadelphia Inquirer newspaper, external has spoken to the builder who made the bicycle US President Joe Biden gave as a gift to UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson on the American president's first trip abroad since taking office in January.

Builder Stephen Bilenky received an email from the US State Department on 23 May asking if the prime ministerial bike could be ready in less than two weeks. (His custom-made bikes often take up to 18 months to build.)

He was also told his budget was a mere $1,800 (£1,300) - down from his typical $4,500 - and the bike should be made with exclusively American-manufactured parts.

"This is an opportunity,” he recalls thinking. What followed was “controlled chaos” as he and his team rushed to complete the bike, along with a custom-painted helmet.

According to the White House, the bike was given to Johnson "as a gesture of friendship and in recognition of their shared interest in cycling".

Image source, Painted Dog Media and Daniel Kilkelly

We've got some video from the Duchess of Cambridge and First Lady's Jill Biden's visit to a school in Cornwall.

Catherine and her husband, Prince William, are taking part in their first G7 event, a sign of their progression as senior royals.

Later, Prince William and Catherine will join the Queen, the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall at the summit's leaders' reception at the Eden project.

Afterwards, Prince William will join his father to host a reception for leaders and chief executives of some of the world's biggest companies, where they will discuss how the private sector can work with governments to tackle climate change.

Nomia Iqbal
BBC News, in Carbis Bay

Image source, Patrick Dormeuil

Carbis Bay is probably one of the safest places on earth right now.

The police presence and security is staggering - and while many residents say they’re fed up, Patrick Dormeuil is full of positivity.

Patrick works in guest relations at the Carbis Bay Hotel where the majority of G7 leaders are staying.

“I’m sort of redundant now,” he laughs. “We don’t have any guests!

"The hotel has been completely cleared out for the summit and taken over by event organisers and security.”

Many of the closed meetings will take place inside the hotel with a few set pieces expected throughout the three-day summit.

Patrick says: “The whole thing is so exciting, how many times do you have heads of state in one place?”

All G7 leaders along with representatives from EU, India, South Korea and Australia are in Cornwall today with the summit having officially kicked off this afternoon.

Patrick believes there will be huge benefits and spin-offs afterwards: "We’ve got to take the positives from it.”

“For three days of your life it’s not much of a sacrifice - it’s just a form of lockdown, a continuation of it.”

Image source, PA Media

We have been bringing you details of some of the bilateral conversations Boris Johnson has been having with other G7 leaders.

During talks with Italian counterpart Mario Draghi the pair discussed their countries' pandemic experiences and how to ensure the world is better prepared for future health crises, Downing Street says.

They discussed "building back greener" from the pandemic and shared foreign policy priorities, including the need for a lasting ceasefire in Libya to provide the foundation for a long-term peaceful democratic transition, a spokesman says.

Johnny O'Shea
BBC News Online

A shop worker based near the G7 summit site says the conference "is not good for business".

Emelye Parker from the Bean Hive by the Sea in Falmouth says footfall has dropped "dramatically" and the local businesses in the area rely heavily on car parks that have been closed down.

"The ridiculous amount of police is intimidating and I know for a fact it is putting people off coming into town”, said Emelye.

The window displays in the quirky gift shop are being used to "reflect the feeling of the town" she says.

"A lot of the messages are climate-led which is so important, and it’s ridiculous that they are all flying here.

"It will never happen again that the world's media is just down the road so I wanted to make sure we put the message out.”

Sean Coughlan
BBC News, education correspondent

Image source, VSO

Boris Johnson has pledged £430m to improve education in some of the world's poorest countries - with girls' learning a priority.

The UK prime minister has told world leaders gathered in Cornwall it is a source of "international shame" that so many girls in poorer countries are missing out on access to school.

With an education, these children could have been "titans of industry or scientific pioneers", he says.

Johnson has made girls' education a flagship issue of the G7.

"The best way we can lift countries out of poverty and lead a global recovery is by investing in education and particularly girls' education."

Read the full story here.

Image source, Oxfam

Campaigners have been posing as G7 leaders fighting over a giant Covid-19 syringe on a beach in Cornwall.

The People's Vaccine Alliance is calling for world leaders to share coronavirus vaccinations with poorer countries.

Campaigners have been using Oxfam's "big heads" to protest on Swanpool Beach, near the international media centre in Falmouth.

Image source, PA Media

US president Joe Biden earlier tweeted, external it is time to "get to work" as leaders gathered for the G7 summit in Cornwall.

"It's the first official day of the G7 summit here in the United Kingdom," he says.

"I'm looking forward to reinforcing our commitment to multilateralism and working with our allies and partners to build a more fair and inclusive global economy.

"Let's get to work."

It won't just be meetings over this few days for the leaders taking part in the G7 summit - they need to eat too.

Chef Adam Handling will be serving the world leaders traditional favourites such as Dover sole and cream teas, as well as more unusual dishes including offal and sea herbs that he foraged from the beach this morning.

The environmentally conscious chef says he will be highlighting how we can all eat more sustainably during the summit, using all parts of the animal and ensuring the whole meal is carbon neutral.

He's cooked Jill Biden and Carrie Johnson a mackerel and cauliflower dish, which he says they enjoyed.

And tonight he's treating world leaders to one of his favourite creations "which is all about the lamb", he says.

"We make a mousse from the offal, we stuff it in there and all the leftover parts of the lamb like the legs and the shoulder that we aren't using today are being minced down for kind of like a posh shepherd's pie tomorrow, as one of the bowl foods for lunch.

"That's served with asparagus from just around the corner, some local mushrooms and some wild garlic that we literally foraged on my way to the hotel this morning," he says.

Handling was a finalist in the BBC's Masterchef the Professionals eight years ago and says the show "was one of the best experiences of my career".

"But cooking for the world leaders at the G7 is definitely the high point of my career for sure," he says.

We asked for his final word on the scones cream before jam or jam before cream debate.

He says: "Cream before the jam all the time. I know that's not right down here but I just can't get away from that fact."

Image source, Getty Images

Boris Johnson has expressed his support for the Tokyo Olympics during a bilateral meeting with the Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga this morning, Downing Street says.

They also discussed trade and defence co-operation, among other things, a spokesperson says.

"The prime minister expressed his support for the Tokyo Olympics, and welcomed Japanese efforts to ensure the Games can take place safely," the spokesperson says.

"The leaders resolved to work together to address global challenges, in particular on global health and tackling climate change ahead of the UK-hosted COP26 Summit."

Family photo sends message to the worldpublished at 15:50 British Summer Time 11 June 2021

15:50 BST 11 June 2021

James Landale
Diplomatic correspondent

Image source, EPA

The so-called family photo of the G7 leaders is all the cerermony and the pageantry and the stuff we always see at these events.

The question is what are they actually going to decide when they sit down and have their discussions, whether it's about climate change, the state of the world's economy, vaccines? That is the stuff that's really going to matter.

Clearly the optics are important. Just on a very basic level they want to have images of them all getting on together and chatting so they can send a message to the world that multilateral co-operation is back.

It's back after the divisive unilateralism of the beginning of the pandemic when every country basically did its own thing.

It's back after the divisive period of Donald Trump when he decided he thought politics should be about transactional relations between one nation and another rather than getting together.

The images we are seeing today do matter but equally the substance is all important too.

President Biden says the US will contribute half a billion Pfizer jabs, and UK PM Boris Johnson has offered 100 million doses from the UK over the coming year.

Seth Berkley is the CEO of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance which co-chairs Covax - the organisation set up to ensure vaccines are distributed fairly across the world.

He says ideally those at highest risk should be vaccinated immediately, such as health workers, those of advanced age and those with other comorbidities who have severe outcomes from the disease. That group, he says, represents about 20% of the world's population or 1.5 billion out of 7.5 billion people.

"Of course, the challenge is that we've already distributed well over 1.5 billion doses, but they've been only distributed - 85% - in a small number of high-income countries. The challenge is - given variants, given the movement of the virus - to get these vaccines available across the world as soon as possible," he tells the BBC.

"And so right now variants are spreading around the world, the virus is spreading and there aren't vaccines available.

"That's why we have called to try to get dose-sharing as soon as possible, so we can start bringing more vaccines to those populations."

Image source, Getty Images

European leaders held a co-ordination meeting earlier, ahead of the main G7 summit beginning.

European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, France's President Emmanuel Macron, president of the European Council Charles Michel, Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel and Italy's Prime minister Mario Draghi chatted at a table outside.

It is the first time the G7 has been held since the UK left the European Union.

Von der Leyen tweeted, external it was an excellent meeting and the main focus was "on Covid, climate and China".

Michel tweeted, external that multilateralism was back, adding the EU wanted to see "the world vaccinated as quickly as possible".

The French president tweeted, external a picture of the group saying: "As always, the same union, the same determination to act, the same enthusiasm."

Image source, PA Media

Before the main summit discussions started, Boris Johnson and Justin Trudeau met for talks following the Canadian prime minister's arrival in Cornwall earlier today.

The two leaders agreed a comprehensive Free Trade Agreement between the UK and Canada would "unlock huge opportunities" for both countries, Downing Street says.

They have pledged to redouble their efforts to secure such an agreement "as soon as possible".

They discussed efforts in the UK and Canada to roll out a coronavirus vaccination programme and defeat the pandemic.

Johnson and Trudeau are said to have agreed to continue working closely together to share insights and information.

They discussed a number of foreign policy issues, including China and Iran, and Johnson noted the "remarkable alignment" between the UK’s and Canada’s foreign policy goals - such as shared work to increase girls' education, defend media freedom, tackle climate change and protect human rights around the world, says the UK PM's spokesperson.

Image source, Unicef

Olivia Colman, David Beckham, Billie Eilish, Katy Perry, Orlando Bloom, Sir Chris Hoy, Whoopi Goldberg, Angélique Kidjo, Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Liam Neeson are among 28 Unicef Goodwill Ambassadors calling on G7 leaders to commit to sharing at least 20% of available Covid vaccines to poorer countries.

In an open letter, they urge the leaders of the world's seven largest economies to donate the doses to ensure fair and equitable.

“The world has spent a year and a half battling the Covid-19 pandemic, but the virus is still spreading in many countries and producing new variants with the potential to put us all back where we started,” it reads.

The letter goes on to warn Covax - the international scheme designed to ensure low-income countries aren't left behind in the fight against Covid - is already facing a shortfall of 190 million doses.

It proposes G7 countries donate more than 150 million doses before the end of August as a temporary stopgap measure.

Former England football captain Beckham says he believes in "the crucial benefit of vaccinations", adding: “The pandemic won’t be over until it’s over everywhere."

Unicef - the United Nation's children's fund - also warns that without urgently ensuring fair and equitable access supply, the world will continue to be at risk of deadly virus mutations.

Climate change will be near the top of the agenda at this weekend's G7 summit.

But with the post-pandemic recovery driving carbon dioxide emissions higher, world leaders face a tough balancing act between the needs of the economy and the environment.

In this edition of BBC Weather's Climate Check, Ben Rich takes a look at some of the latest climate challenges affecting the planet.