Leaders of the G20 2020 Summit at Riyadh vowed to spare no effort to protect lives and ensure affordable access to COVID-19 vaccines for all people. In the Leaders Declaration issued on 22nd November, the G20 leaders asserted that they will spare no effort to ensure affordable and equitable access to COVID-19 diagnostics, therapeutics and vaccines for all, while also pledging to use all possible policy tools to protect people’s lives, jobs and incomes in the wake of the pandemic.
“We will spare no effort to ensure their affordable and equitable access for all people, consistent with members’ commitments to incentivize innovation,” the declaration said.
The two-day summit of heads of states of top 20 countires in the world was held virtually due to the coronavirus pandemic. Incidentally, the highest death tolls have been recorded in seven of the G20 countries. The virus which has killed at least 1.38 million people globally, has wiped out hundreds of millions of jobs globally and plunged millions into extreme poverty.
In its final statement, the G20 said that the virus “revealed vulnerabilities in our preparedness and response and underscored our common challenges”. The 2020 summit and its statement focused heavily on battling the coronavirus, enhancing environmental protections and supporting the global economy.
The leaders said that while the global economy experienced a sharp contraction in 2020 due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, global economic activity has partially picked up as “our economies gradually reopened and the positive impact of our significant policy actions started to materialise”. They vowed “to spare no effort to protect lives.”
The G20 — which includes the U.S., India, China, the U.K., France, Germany, Japan and others — also stressed the importance of global access to COVID-19 vaccines, drugs and tests. The group expressed support for efforts like COVAX, an international initiative to distribute COVID-19 vaccines to countries worldwide. The U.S., however, has declined to join under President Trump.
Other issues discussed by the leaders included Sustainable Development, Access to Opportunities, Women’s Empowerment, Anti-corruption measures, Education, Tourism, Migration and Forced Displacement, Food and Water Security.
Speaking at the virtual summit, India’s PM Narendra Modi said India is not only meeting Paris Agreement targets but also exceeding them. PM Modi also emphasised on keeping the focus on climate change, saying it is an issue which needs to be fought in an integrated manner.
He further said, “We are focused on saving citizens, the economy from pandemic; equally important to focus on fighting climate change it must be fought not in silos but in an integrated, comprehensive and holistic way. Inspired by our traditional ethos of living in harmony with the environment, and the commitment of my Government, India has adopted low-carbon and climate-resilient development practices”.
The next meetings of the G20 will be held in Italy in 2021, Indonesia in 2022, India in 2023 and Brazil in 2024.
Shobhil Shrivastava 
Aayush Pal