PARIS – Will negotiators from the Global South be banned from attending a UN climate summit (COP26) in Glasgow in November because they are not vaccinated against COVID-19? This scenario will not arise, one hopes, because officials of the developing country will almost certainly receive their shootings in advance. But whether they want to negotiate with wealthy economies that have been hoarding vaccines is less clear.
Welcome to 2021, where global climate negotiations could become the collateral damage of vaccine nationalism. In normal times, it was the bone of contention between rich and poor countries that should drive the efforts to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. But the pandemic has already pushed climate negotiations back by a year, and is now threatening to create an extra north-south divide.
In January, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, in his final month as chairman of the African Union, lambasted developed countries for ordering vaccines equivalent to “up to four times what their population needs.” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director General of the World Health Organization, warned of a potential “catastrophic moral failure” due to unequal vaccine distribution. And the Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town, Thabo Makgoba, and UNAIDS Executive Director Winnie Byanyima have both denied the current “global vaccine apartheid”.
Failure to improve divisions about vaccine availability for developing countries could poison the well of global co-ordination and disrupt COP26 climate discussions. The Global South accepted the principle of “common but discriminatory responsibilities” in tackling climate change 30 years ago. But he could view the vaccine’s selfishness as a sign of irresponsibility on the crucial immediate issue of health – and refuse to participate in the necessary giving and taking in combating global warming.
The erosion of collective responsibility caused by a vaccine, coupled with the economic impact of the pandemic, could lead to countries issuing very disappointing “nationally determined contributions” to reduce CO2 emissions in the run-up to COP26. This risk is exacerbated by the different priorities of rich and poor countries. While the developed North puts global warming first, health and development often take precedence in the Global South.
In this regard, US President Joe Biden has asked Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen to promote “debt relief initiatives that align with the goals of the Paris Agreement and support goals” – that is, green contingency for reduction debt, restructuring and cancellation. . But developing economies that have suffered severely in the COVID-19 crisis and have seen their development outlook stand might regard such plans as an additional burden imposed by the North.
What should be done? At their virtual meeting on Feb. 19, G7 leaders agreed to provide an additional $ 4 billion to land the International Access Equipment Accelerator for COVID-19 and the COVID-19 Global Vaccine Global Access (COVAX) facility, equitable and equitable delivery of vaccines to people everywhere.
This is a good start. But developed economies should go further and offer the Global South a “solidarity package” that covers vaccine distribution, debt relief, and climate goals, with the goal of ensuring fair and balanced efforts by all governments on all the front three. Rich countries should recognize that while negotiating on the transfer of hundreds of billions of dollars from North to South for climate action in the coming years, it would take only $ 10-20 billion to fully fund COVAX.
To prevent the North-South divide from expanding further, leaders should announce the first part of that package ahead of the April 22 international climate summit hosted by Biden. The second part could be timed to coincide with the summit on financing African economies that French President Emmanuel Macron will convene in Paris on May 18.
Rich countries therefore have the opportunity to provide developing economies with additional resources for short-term vaccine acquisition and recovery. Funding could come from new allocations of special drawing rights (IMF reserve) or the rapid use of special instruments such as vaccine bonds issued by the International Funding Facility for Immunization. Above all, developed countries must ensure that COVID-19 vaccines are widely available – and continually adapted to new coronavirus variants – without any delay to the Global South.
Exceptional hazards require exceptional measures. With vaccine tensions and the ongoing economic crisis threatening to undermine international efforts to save the planet, the North-South global solidarity package represents the best way forward.
Copyright: Project Syndicate, 2021.
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