Opinion

A G20 between pandemic and controversy

photo_camera G20

Saudi Arabia is trying by all means to restore its image. This time, the country is hosting the G20. As such, it is the first Arab country to host this major global event and the Saudi press has not ceased to congratulate itself and the king who has transformed a desert into a great country at the forefront of technology.  

But the country of the Ben Salmanes has a dispute that human rights defenders will not forget or abandon: The murder of journalist Khashoggi in Ankara, the imprisonment of women equality activists... MBS which has several dead in its wardrobe and its repressive record is getting heavier and heavier despite the signs of modernity and the many reforms it has launched this year.  But it is struggling to break with the good habits of the Saudi royal family.  

Forty-five US deputies urged their government to boycott the G-20 summit. "We should withdraw from the G-20 summit and commit ourselves to making human rights reforms a condition of all future negotiations with the Saudi government," they said in a letter.  

The statement also supports the 65 Members of the European Parliament who called for pressure to be put on Riyadh to support human rights abuses by Saudi Arabia's rulers.  

For her part, the sister of Saudi activist Loujain Al-Hathloul, who is in prison and on hunger strike, has made numerous calls on European television channels to make her sister's voice heard, to release her or at least to grant her fundamental rights. But the activist's appeals have not been heard...   

The opening of the G20 took place in style, although the summit was held virtually. Riyadh unfurled its beauties indoors and its skies welcomed an impressive and demonstrative fly-past.  

Everything had been prepared to enchant or intimidate. However, despite all these efforts, the G20 will be remembered as a virtual edition, held by videoconference and marked by a global pandemic. MBS, which counted on this summit to mark its anchorage on the international scene, was stripped of its leading role by the Covid and had to moderate its ambitions.  

At the top of the summit's priorities, the health crisis and the "equitable" distribution of vaccines and care remained pious hopes. At a time when no new funding was announced at the end of this summit.  

"We have maintained our commitment to continue working together to meet the challenge of the Covid-19 pandemic in order to preserve lives and livelihoods, and protect the most vulnerable," said King Ben Salmane. But Covax was indexed by Angela Merkel. The initiative, which was supposed to ensure an equitable distribution of care, does not appear to be delivering on its promises.  

"I think the most important thing now is that Covax, with the money at its disposal, is negotiating with potential vaccine manufacturers, because in the European Union, for example, we are already well advanced in negotiations with some vaccine producers," the German chancellor said.  

Merkel's concern is entirely justified. Negotiations on the vaccine are taking place in secret between laboratories and countries, and access to medical care is by no means guaranteed for everyone. According to the Center for Global Development, rich countries have already reserved 1.1 billion doses of the future Pfizer/BionTceh vaccine, one of the most advanced vaccines, out of a total of 1.3 billion doses produced.  

In addition, the debt of the poorest countries has been postponed until June 2021, when it was expected to be suspended until the end of next year. The G-20 members had stated that the final decision would be taken only by the finance ministers, who have the authority to examine this issue.  

China, for its part, is the big winner at this summit and has put its weight behind the crisis. Its economy is one of the least affected. And at a time when the United States has withdrawn from the Paris agreements, Beijing wants to adopt a pro-planet strategy and is even calling for pressure to be exerted to ensure that these agreements are implemented "fully and effectively". Moreover, China has committed to achieving carbon neutrality by 2060. 

Although Beijing has effectively reduced its fine particle emissions by 27%, its nitrogen levels continue to rise. According to a recent study, it has increased by 11%.  

Faced with this speech and a fairly varied record, Donald Trump's response was not long in coming. "I refuse to give up millions of jobs in the United States and send billions of dollars to the world's worst polluters and environmental criminals," he replied to China barely implicitly. Will the post-Covid era be green? Nothing is less certain, but Joe Biden, the newly elected US president, was reassuring and promised to return to the Paris agreements on his first day in office. 

 The next G20 will be held in Italy and the Italian Prime Minister says he wants to "promote a sustainable, inclusive and resilient recovery". Italy wants to look ahead, but the future looks bleak for Italy and many countries. The Covid crisis has not had its last word.