G20 leaders attending the Riyadh Summit virtualy said coordinated global action, solidarity, and multilateral cooperation are more necessary today than ever to overcome the current challenges and realise opportunities of the 21st century for all.

 

The leaders endorsed their declaration at the end of their summit yesterday (November 22), including agreements on steps to be taken to protect lives and shape a better future. 

 

"We, the G20 Leaders, meeting for the second time under the Saudi Presidency, stand united in our conviction that coordinated global action, solidarity, and multilateral cooperation are more necessary today than ever to overcome the current challenges and realise opportunities of the 21st century for all by empowering people, safeguarding the planet, and shaping new frontiers," said the declaration.

 

The declaration goes on to call for a recovery and a better future by adopting policies to ensure connectivity and equal access to technology and opportunities for all, focusing on women, youth, and the most vulnerable.

 

"We are taking immediate and exceptional measures to address the Covid -19 pandemic and its intertwined health, social and economic impacts, including through the implementation of unprecedented fiscal, monetary and financial stability actions (…) We recognise the role of extensive immunisation as a global public good," said the declaration.

 

"We commend the Saudi Presidency for initiating discussions on the need for long-term solutions to address gaps in global pandemic preparedness and response, including its proposal towards establishing access to pandemic tools, and we look forward to furthering this discussion during the Italian Presidency," it said.

 

"This crisis continues to have disproportionate economic and social impact on the most vulnerable segments of society, reinforcing the need to enhance access to opportunities for all. We will continue our efforts to reduce inequalities, reaffirming our previous commitments to promote inclusive growth. We endorse the G20 Menu of Policy Options to Enhance Access to Opportunities for All that can be leveraged to support the immediate response to the Covid-19 pandemic and move towards a strong, sustainable, balanced and inclusive recovery."

 

The statement also calls for protecting our planet and shared natural resources to have a cleaner more sustainable future.

 

"Preventing environmental degradation, conserving, sustainably using and restoring biodiversity, preserving our oceans, promoting clean air and clean water, responding to natural disasters and extreme weather events, and tackling climate change are among the most pressing challenges of our time. As we recover from the pandemic, we are committed to safeguarding our planet and building a more environmentally sustainable and inclusive future for all people," it said.

 

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 the economies gradually reopened and the positive impact of our significant policy actions started to materialise, it said. 

 

"However, the recovery is uneven, highly uncertain and subject to elevated downside risks, including those arising from renewed virus outbreaks in some economies, with some countries reintroducing restrictive health measures. We underscore the urgent need to bring the spread of the virus under control, which is key to supporting global economic recovery. We are determined to continue to use all available policy tools as long as required to safeguard people’s lives, jobs and incomes, support the global economic recovery, and enhance the resilience of the financial system, while safeguarding against downside risks. We also reaffirm the exchange rate commitments made by our Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors in March 2018."

 

More than 170 meetings were held, by G20 minsters of finance, trade and investment, health, education, energy, climate, anti-corruption, agriculture, environment, employment, tourism, digital economy, water, and foreign affairs over the course of the Saudi G20 Presidency to culminate in the Leaders' Declaration.

 

In addition, civil society and business groups were represented by the eight engagement groups: Business 20, Youth 20, Labour 20, Think 20, Civil 20, Women 20, Science 20, and Urban 20. They concluded their agenda by holding 8 summits and issuing 8 final statements respectively bringing civil society and private sector views to the policy-making table. - TradeArabia News Service