São Paulo – Enabling fair access to Covid-19 vaccines is one of the priorities of G20 leaders. So said Saudi Arabian crown prince Mohammed Bin Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud (pictured above) during an address this Sunday (22), the last day of the G20 Summit that began on Saturday (21). Saudi Arabia is currently in the bloc’s presidency.
The event was held online due to the pandemic. It was attended by leaders of the world’s 19 biggest economies plus the European Union. “This pandemic knows no borders,” Bin Salman said.
The prince stressed that Saudi Arabia supplied USD 500 million out of more than USD 21 billion which the G20 pledged to make available for the development of diagnostic tools, vaccines and effective treatments. He said the G20 will spare no effort in enabling equitable access to Covid-19 vaccines, treatments, and diagnostic tools.
Saudi Arabia’s Finance minister Mohammed Al-Jadaan said during a press briefing at the end of the Summit that “If we leave any country behind, we will all be behind.” Al-Jadaan said that institutions like the World Bank and the Islamic Bank have also joined actions like COVAX, a World Health Organization (WHO) initiative to ensure equitable access to Covid-19 vaccines once they are available.
Here’s more on the G20 Summit:
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- G20: King Salman talks about COVID-19, economic recovery
During its term in the G20 presidency, Saudi Arabia also espoused research and development efforts by the group and the distribution of diagnostic tools and vaccines for all infectious diseases, and it encouraged international funding towards global pandemic preparedness. The Saudi crown prince said the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will continue to support global access to Covid-19 treatments and vaccines as soon as they are available, and that it will work with Italy during its term next year to achieve that goal.
Circular Carbon Economy
Under Saudi presidency, the G20 also endorsed the Circular Carbon Economy (CCE), designed to mitigate carbon emissions across all sectors of the economy and enable access to cleaner, more sustainable energy.
During the side event ‘Safeguarding the Planet’ held this Sunday, Saudi Arabia’s king Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud said his country will launch a National Circular Carbon Economy Program. “We call on other countries to work with us to help achieve the goals of this program: fighting climate change while creating economic growth and wellbeing for humanity,” the Saudi king said.
The Circular Carbon Economy strategy is designed to manage carbon emissions through the ‘4Rs’ – reduce, reuse, recycle, and remove hazardous elements from the atmosphere.
Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
