Attention on Covid at start of G-20 talks

The Group of 20 summit opened yesterday with appeals by the world’s most powerful leaders to collectively chart a way forward as the coronavirus pandemic overshadows this year’s gathering, transforming it from in-person meetings to a virtual gathering of speeches and declarations.

The pandemic, which has killed more than 1.37 million people worldwide, has offered the G-20 an opportunity to prove how such bodies can facilitate international co-operation in crises — but has also underscored their shortcomings.

“We have a duty to rise to the challenge together during this summit and give a strong message of hope and reassurance,” Saudi Arabia’s King Salman said.

While G-20 countries have put billions of dollars towards developing a vaccine, they have also mostly focused on securing their own supplies of it. The likes of Britain, the US, France and Germany — all G-20 members — have negotiated deals with pharmaceutical companies to receive billions of doses, meaning the vast majority of the vaccine supply next year is already reserved.

US President Donald Trump highlighted what the US had done regarding work on vaccines, but appeared not to have acknowledged that Joe Biden won the presidential election.

“It’s been a great honour to work with you and I look forward to working with you again for a long time,” Trump said.

A day before the summit, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that while $10 billion had been invested in efforts to develop vaccines, diagnostics and therapeutics, another $28b was needed for mass manufacturing, procurement and delivery of new Covid vaccines around the world.

Guterres called on more G-20 nations to join COVAX, an international initiative to distribute vaccines to countries worldwide. The US has declined to join under Trump.

The pandemic has had a farreaching economic impact on developing countries and pushed millions into extreme poverty. It has also plagued the world’s wealthiest nations, with nine G-20 countries ranking highest globally for the most cases recorded. The US tops the list, followed by India, Brazil, France, Russia, Spain, the UK, Argentina and Italy, Johns Hopkins University says.

Three G-20 leaders participating in the summit have been infected by the coronavirus this year: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and Trump.

The virus shows no signs of abating. The International Labour Organisation says an equivalent of 225 million full-time jobs were lost in G-20 countries alone in the third quarter of 2020. G-20 member-countries represent about 85 per cent of the world’s economic output and threequarters of international trade.

As part of the summit, seven leaders released video messages on “Pandemic Preparedness and Response”. France’s President Emmanuel Macron warned of the challenges in obtaining “universal access to health technologies against Covid-19”. German Chancellor Angela Merkel called for strengthening the World Health Organisation.

In a video statement released ahead of the summit, Johnson appealed to global leaders to harness the resources of the world’s wealthiest nations to end the pandemic and tackle climate change.

“Our fates are in each other’s hands,” said Johnson, who plans to attend two summit virtual events while self-isolating in London after coming into contact with someone who tested positive for Covid.