<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div class=""><div style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class=""><a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2021/11/01/g20-summit-deemed-abysmal-and-total-failure-vaccine-equity-climate-action" style="color: rgb(5, 99, 193);" class="">https://www.commondreams.org/news/2021/11/01/g20-summit-deemed-abysmal-and-total-failure-vaccine-equity-climate-action</a><o:p class=""></o:p></span></div></div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; background-color: white;" class=""><b class=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; color: rgb(64, 65, 65);" class="">G20 Summit Deemed 'Abysmal and Total Failure' on Vaccine Equity, Climate Action<o:p class=""></o:p></span></b></div><div style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class="">By Jake Johnson<o:p class=""></o:p></span></div><div style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;" class="">11/1/21</span></div><div style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class=""> </span></div><p style="margin-top: 0in; background-color: white;" class=""><strong class=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; color: rgb(64, 65, 65);" class="">Leaders of the world's</span></strong><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; color: rgb(64, 65, 65);" class=""> richest nations wrapped up the Group of 20 Summit in Rome on Sunday after taking virtually no concrete action to tackle the coronavirus pandemic and the intensifying climate crisis, drawing condemnation from human rights advocates who deemed the gathering's outcome an "abysmal and total failure."<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0in; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 1rem; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; text-decoration-thickness: initial;" class=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; color: rgb(64, 65, 65);" class="">"G20 leaders could have taken urgent action to dramatically scale up manufacturing and access to Covid-19 vaccines around the world, promote a fair economic recovery, lower dangerous greenhouse gas emissions, and help the poorest countries adapt to the climate change already happening," Jörn Kalinski, senior adviser at Oxfam International, said in a statement. "The bottom line is that this summit failed to deliver much of anything for people, planet, or prosperity.”<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><div style="border-style: none none none solid; border-left-width: 4.5pt; border-left-color: rgb(208, 208, 208); padding: 0in 0in 0in 14pt;" class=""><p class="pullquote" style="margin: 2rem 0in; line-height: 25.5pt; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; text-decoration-thickness: initial; float: right; right: -140px;"><b class=""><font color="#404141" face="Times New Roman, serif" size="3" class=""><span style="letter-spacing: -0.05pt;" class=""> <o:p class=""></o:p></span></font></b></p></div><p style="margin-top: 0in; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 1rem; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; text-decoration-thickness: initial;" class=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; color: rgb(64, 65, 65);" class="">The weekend summit drew to a close as the global death toll from Covid-19 topped a staggering 5 million, a figure that's likely to continue <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/world/covid-cases.html" style="color: rgb(5, 99, 193);" class=""><b class=""><span style="color: rgb(19, 128, 232);" class="">growing by thousands</span></b></a> each day as billions of people worldwide are denied access to lifesaving vaccines.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0in; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 1rem; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; text-decoration-thickness: initial;" class=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; color: rgb(64, 65, 65);" class="">G20 nations constitute 62% of the global population but have used 82% of the world's Covid-19 vaccines, according to the London-based advocacy group Global Justice Now. Just <a href="https://ourworldindata.org/covid-vaccinations" style="color: rgb(5, 99, 193);" class=""><b class=""><span style="color: rgb(19, 128, 232);" class="">3.6%</span></b></a> of people in low-income countries have received at least one coronavirus vaccine dose—inequity that threatens to prolong the pandemic and leave the door open to devastating new variants.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0in; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 1rem; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; text-decoration-thickness: initial;" class=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; color: rgb(64, 65, 65);" class="">A recent <a href="https://www.unicef.org/press-releases/g20-members-have-received-15-times-more-covid-19-vaccine-doses-capita-sub-saharan" style="color: rgb(5, 99, 193);" class=""><b class=""><span style="color: rgb(19, 128, 232);" class="">analysis</span></b></a> by the science data firm Airfinity showed that G20 countries have received 15 times more coronavirus vaccine doses per capita than countries in sub-Saharan Africa. The United States, the European Union, Britain, and Canada are <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/g20-should-redistribute-surplus-covid-19-vaccines-ex-leaders-say-2021-10-28/" style="color: rgb(5, 99, 193);" class=""><b class=""><span style="color: rgb(19, 128, 232);" class="">currently hoarding</span></b></a> roughly 240 million surplus Covid-19 vaccines as they begin offering booster shots to certain segments of their populations, ignoring the World Health Organization's <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2021/09/09/appalled-vaccine-booster-plans-who-chief-rebukes-big-pharma-rich-nations" style="color: rgb(5, 99, 193);" class=""><b class=""><span style="color: rgb(19, 128, 232);" class="">pleas</span></b></a> for a moratorium on boosters.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0in; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 1rem; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; text-decoration-thickness: initial;" class=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; color: rgb(64, 65, 65);" class="">"It's an absolute scandal that the G20 has wasted a year ignoring a proposal, backed by the majority of its members, to break vaccine monopolies and ensure the lifesaving vaccines can be made around the world to save countless lives," said People's Vaccine Alliance policy lead Anna Marriot, referring to a <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2021/07/27/3-million-people-have-died-covid-rich-nations-began-obstructing-vaccine-patent" style="color: rgb(5, 99, 193);" class=""><b class=""><span style="color: rgb(19, 128, 232);" class="">stalled patent waiver</span></b></a> at the World Trade Organization.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0in; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 1rem; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; text-decoration-thickness: initial;" class=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; color: rgb(64, 65, 65);" class="">At the end of the two-day Rome summit, G20 leaders adopted a <a href="https://www.g20.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/G20-ROME-LEADERS-DECLARATION.pdf" style="color: rgb(5, 99, 193);" class=""><b class=""><span style="color: rgb(19, 128, 232);" class="">declaration</span></b></a> pledging to "enhance our efforts to ensure the transparent, rapid, and predictable delivery and uptake of vaccines where they are needed" and endorsed the WHO's modest goal of "vaccinating at least 40% of the population in all countries by the end of 2021." The document does not mention vaccine-related intellectual property rules, which activists view as key barriers to ramping up <a href="https://theintercept.com/2021/04/29/covid-vaccine-factory-production-ip/" style="color: rgb(5, 99, 193);" class=""><b class=""><span style="color: rgb(19, 128, 232);" class="">production</span></b></a>, closing distribution gaps, and ending the pandemic.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0in; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 1rem; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; text-decoration-thickness: initial;" class=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; color: rgb(64, 65, 65);" class="">Tamaryn Nelson, a health adviser at Amnesty International, said Sunday that the "vague promises" issued by the heads of the richest countries in the world are "an affront to those who have died, and to everyone still living in fear, of Covid-19."<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0in; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 1rem; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; text-decoration-thickness: initial;" class=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; color: rgb(64, 65, 65);" class="">"With just two months left of this year, only a radical change in approach will close the shameful vaccine gap," Nelson argued. "If we continue down our current path, the end of the pandemic will remain a glimmer on the horizon."<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0in; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 1rem; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; text-decoration-thickness: initial;" class=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; color: rgb(64, 65, 65);" class="">Environmentalists offered similarly scathing rebukes of the climate rhetoric and commitments that emerged from the G20 gathering, which concluded just ahead of the pivotal <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/tag/cop26" style="color: rgb(5, 99, 193);" class=""><b class=""><span style="color: rgb(19, 128, 232);" class="">COP26 talks</span></b></a> in Glasgow, Scotland.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0in; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 1rem; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; text-decoration-thickness: initial;" class=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; color: rgb(64, 65, 65);" class="">In their final communique, G20 leaders—whose countries are responsible for more than 75% of global greenhouse gas emissions—"acknowledge the close link between climate and energy and commit to reduce emission intensity, as part of mitigation efforts, in the energy sector to meet timeframes aligned with the Paris temperature goal."<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0in; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 1rem; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; text-decoration-thickness: initial;" class=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; color: rgb(64, 65, 65);" class="">The declaration also includes a vow to "put an end to the provision of international public finance for new unabated coal power generation abroad by the end of 2021." However, to the dismay of climate campaigners, G20 leaders did not agree to a specific target date to end the use of coal as <a href="https://www.politico.eu/article/coal-g20-rome/" style="color: rgb(5, 99, 193);" class=""><b class=""><span style="color: rgb(19, 128, 232);" class="">Australia and other countries</span></b></a> stood in the way.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0in; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 1rem; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; text-decoration-thickness: initial;" class=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; color: rgb(64, 65, 65);" class="">"Heads of state from the world's richest—and therefore most powerful—countries had the opportunity to radically reset multilateral politics and generate the commitments necessary to keep global heating below 1.5°C," <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2021/10/31/350org-reacts-weak-g20-climate-statement" style="color: rgb(5, 99, 193);" class=""><b class=""><span style="color: rgb(19, 128, 232);" class="">said</span></b></a> Namrata Chowdhary, chief of public engagement at <a href="http://350.org" style="color: rgb(5, 99, 193);" class="">350.org</a>. "Instead, they've made a contradictory and empty statement on climate: they've restated their commitment to keeping global heating below 1.5°C, but failed to commit to any action themselves, not even agreeing that their national climate plans must be improved. Right now, they have us on a path to nearly 3 degrees of heating. These so-called leaders need to do better."<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0in; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 1rem; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; text-decoration-thickness: initial;" class=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; color: rgb(64, 65, 65);" class="">Jennifer Morgan, executive director of Greenpeace International, echoed that sentiment, saying in a statement that "if the G20 was a dress rehearsal for COP26, then world leaders fluffed their lines."<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0in; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 1rem; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; text-decoration-thickness: initial;" class=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; color: rgb(64, 65, 65);" class="">"Governments must respond to the deadly warnings the planet is giving us and cut emissions drastically right now to stay in line with 1.5°C, and that requires stopping any new fossil fuel development," said Morgan. "At COP26, we will not let up and continue to push for more climate ambition, as well as the rules and actions to back it up. We need to stop all new fossil fuel projects immediately."<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p><div style="margin: 0in; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;" class=""><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;" class=""> </span></div><div class="">
Arthur Stamoulis<br class="">Citizens Trade Campaign<br class="">(202) 494-8826<br class=""><br class=""><br class=""><br class="">
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