November 8, 2024
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J. Tuyet Nguyen, a journalist with years of experience, has covered major stories in New York City and the United Nations for United Press International, the German Press Agency dpa and various newspapers. His reports focused mostly on topics with international interests for readers worldwide. He was president of the United Nations Correspondents Association (2007 and 2008), which is composed of more than 250 journalists representing world media with influence over policy decision makers. He has chaired the organization of the annual UNCA Awards, which seeks to reward journalists around the world who have done the best broadcasts and written reports on the UN and its specialized agencies. He has traveled the world to cover events and write stories, from politics to the environment as well cultures of different regions. But his most important reporting work has been with the United Nations since the early 1980s. He was bureau chief of United Press International office at the UN headquarters before joining dpa in 1997. Prior to working at the UN, he was an editor on the International Desk of UPI World Headquarters in New York. He worked in Los Angeles and covered the final months of war in Vietnam for UPI.

New Global Framework for Managing Nature Through 2030: First Detailed Draft Agreement Debuts

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(Editor’s note: this press release dated July 12, 2021, from the UN Convention on Biodiversity is published in full on this website for the benefits of media organizations and readers)

Still a work in progress, the Global Biodiversity Framework will ultimately advance to

UN Convention on Biological Diversity’s COP15 for consideration by 196 member parties

“The 1st Draft Of The Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework” is available for media preview at https://bit.ly/3hFgz2e

Elizabeth Maruma Mrema, CBD Executive Secretary, Basile van Havre and Francis Ogwal, co-chairs of the Open-Ended Working Group on the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework, and other officials are available for interviews.

21 targets, 10 ‘milestones’ proposed for 2030 en route to ‘living in harmony with nature’

by 2050; Include conserving and protecting at least 30% of Earth’s lands and oceans

The UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) Secretariat released (July 12, 2021) the first official draft of a new Global Biodiversity Framework to guide actions worldwide through 2030 to preserve and protect Nature and its essential services to people.

The framework includes 21 targets for 2030 that call for, among other things:

At least 30% of land and sea areas global (especially areas of particular importance for biodiversity and its contributions to people) conserved through effective, equitably managed, ecologically representative and well-connected systems of protected areas (and other effective area-based conservation measures)

A 50% of greater reduction in the rate of introduction of invasive alien species, and controls or eradication of such species to eliminate or reduce their impacts

Reducing nutrients lost to the environment by at least half, and pesticides by at least two thirds, and eliminating the discharge of plastic waste

Nature-based contributions to global climate change mitigation efforts of least 10 GtCO2e per year, and that all mitigation and adaptation efforts avoid negative impacts on biodiversity

Redirecting, repurposing, reforming or eliminating incentives harmful for biodiversity, in a just and equitable way, reducing them by at least $US 500 billion per year

A $US 200 billion increase in international financial flows from all sources to developing countries 

More than two years in development, the Framework will undergo further refinement during online negotiations in late summer before being presented for consideration at CBD’s next meeting of its 196 parties at COP15, scheduled for Kunming, China October 11-24.

The Four Goals for 2050:

The draft framework proposes four goals to achieve, by 2050, humanity “living in harmony with nature,” a vision adopted by the CBD’s 196 member parties in 2010.

Goal A: The integrity of all ecosystems is enhanced, with an increase of at least 15% in the area, connectivity and integrity of natural ecosystems, supporting healthy and resilient populations of all species, the rate of extinctions has been reduced at least tenfold, and the risk of species extinctions across all taxonomic and functional groups, is halved, and genetic diversity of wild and domesticated species is safeguarded, with at least 90% of genetic diversity within all species maintained.

Goal B: Nature’s contributions to people have been valued, maintained or enhanced through conservation and sustainable use supporting the global development agenda for the benefit of all;

Goal C: The benefits from the utilization of genetic resources are shared fairly and equitably, with a substantial increase in both monetary and non-monetary benefits shared, including for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity.

Goal D: The gap between available financial and other means of implementation, and those necessary to achieve the 2050 Vision, is closed.

Milestones to be reached by 2030

The four goals each have 2-3 broad milestones to be reached by 2030 (10 milestones in all):

Goal A:

Milestone A.1 Net gain in the area, connectivity and integrity of natural systems of at least 5%.

Milestone A.2 The increase in the extinction rate is halted or reversed, and the extinction risk is reduced by at least 10%, with a decrease in the proportion of species that are threatened, and the abundance and distribution of populations of species is enhanced or at least maintained.

Milestone A.3 Genetic diversity of wild and domesticated species is safeguarded, with an increase in the proportion of species that have at least 90% of their genetic diversity maintained.

Goal B:

Milestone B.1 Nature and its contributions to people are fully accounted and inform all relevant public and private decisions.

Milestone B.2 The long-term sustainability of all categories of nature’s contributions to people is ensured, with those currently in decline restored, contributing to each of the relevant Sustainable Development Goals.

Goal C:

Milestone C.1 The share of monetary benefits received by providers, including holders of traditional knowledge, has increased.

Milestone C.2 Non-monetary benefits, such as the participation of providers, including holders of traditional knowledge, in research and development, has increased.

Goal D:

Milestone D.1 Adequate financial resources to implement the framework are available and deployed, progressively closing the financing gap up to at least US $700 billion per year by 2030.

Milestone D.2 Adequate other means, including capacity-building and development, technical and scientific cooperation and technology transfer to implement the framework to 2030 are available and deployed.

Milestone D.3 Adequate financial and other resources for the period 2030 to 2040 are planned or committed by 2030.

21 “Action Targets” for 2030

The framework then lists 21 associated “action targets” for 2030:

Reducing threats to biodiversity

Target 1

Ensure that all land and sea areas globally are under integrated biodiversity-inclusive spatial planning addressing land- and sea-use change, retaining existing intact and wilderness areas.

Target 2

Ensure that at least 20 per cent of degraded freshwater, marine and terrestrial ecosystems are under restoration, ensuring connectivity among them and focusing on priority ecosystems.

Target 3

Ensure that at least 30 per cent globally of land areas and of sea areas, especially areas of particular importance for biodiversity and its contributions to people, are conserved through effectively and equitably managed, ecologically representative and well-connected systems of protected areas and other effective area-based conservation measures, and integrated into the wider landscapes and seascapes.

Target 4

Ensure active management actions to enable the recovery and conservation of species and the genetic diversity of wild and domesticated species, including through ex situ conservation, and effectively manage human-wildlife interactions to avoid or reduce human-wildlife conflict.

Target 5

Ensure that the harvesting, trade and use of wild species is sustainable, legal, and safe for human health.

Target 6

Manage pathways for the introduction of invasive alien species, preventing, or reducing their rate of introduction and establishment by at least 50 per cent, and control or eradicate invasive alien species to eliminate or reduce their impacts, focusing on priority species and priority sites.

Target 7

Reduce pollution from all sources to levels that are not harmful to biodiversity and ecosystem functions and human health, including by reducing nutrients lost to the environment by at least half, and pesticides by at least two thirds and eliminating the discharge of plastic waste.

Target 8

Minimize the impact of climate change on biodiversity, contribute to mitigation and adaptation through ecosystem-based approaches, contributing at least 10 GtCO2e per year to global mitigation efforts, and ensure that all mitigation and adaptation efforts avoid negative impacts on biodiversity.

Meeting people’s needs through sustainable use and benefit-sharing

Target 9

Ensure benefits, including nutrition, food security, medicines, and livelihoods for people especially for the most vulnerable through sustainable management of wild terrestrial, freshwater and marine species and protecting customary sustainable use by indigenous peoples and local communities.

Target 10

Ensure all areas under agriculture, aquaculture and forestry are managed sustainably, in particular through the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity, increasing the productivity and resilience of these production systems.

Target 11

Maintain and enhance nature’s contributions to regulation of air quality, quality and quantity of water, and protection from hazards and extreme events for all people.

Target 12

Increase the area of, access to, and benefits from green and blue spaces, for human health and well-being in urban areas and other densely populated areas.

Target 13

Implement measures at global level and in all countries to facilitate access to genetic resources and to ensure the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the use of genetic resources, and as relevant, of associated traditional knowledge, including through mutually agreed terms and prior and informed consent.

Tools and solutions for implementation and mainstreaming

Target 14

Fully integrate biodiversity values into policies, regulations, planning, development processes, poverty reduction strategies, accounts, and assessments of environmental impacts at all levels of government and across all sectors of the economy, ensuring that all activities and financial flows are aligned with biodiversity values.

Target 15

All businesses (public and private, large, medium and small) assess and report on their dependencies and impacts on biodiversity, from local to global, and progressively reduce negative impacts, by at least half and increase positive impacts, reducing biodiversity-related risks to businesses and moving towards the full sustainability of extraction and production practices, sourcing and supply chains, and use and disposal.

Target 16

Ensure that people are encouraged and enabled to make responsible choices and have access to relevant information and alternatives, taking into account cultural preferences, to reduce by at least half the waste and, where relevant the overconsumption, of food and other materials.

Target 17

Establish, strengthen capacity for, and implement measures in all countries to prevent, manage or control potential adverse impacts of biotechnology on biodiversity and human health, reducing the risk of these impacts.

Target 18

Redirect, repurpose, reform or eliminate incentives harmful for biodiversity, in a just and equitable way, reducing them by at least US$ 500 billion per year, including all of the most harmful subsidies, and ensure that incentives, including public and private economic and regulatory incentives, are either positive or neutral for biodiversity.

Target 19

Increase financial resources from all sources to at least US$ 200 billion per year, including new, additional and effective financial resources, increasing by at least US$ 10 billion per year international financial flows to developing countries, leveraging private finance, and increasing domestic resource mobilization, taking into account national biodiversity finance planning, and strengthen capacity-building and technology transfer and scientific cooperation, to meet the needs for implementation, commensurate with the ambition of the goals and targets of the framework.

Target 20

Ensure that relevant knowledge, including the traditional knowledge, innovations and practices of indigenous and local communities with their free, prior, and informed consent, guides decision‑making for the effective management of biodiversity, enabling monitoring, and by promoting awareness, education and research.

Target 21

Ensure equitable and effective participation in decision-making related to biodiversity by indigenous peoples and local communities, and respect their rights over lands, territories and resources, as well as by women and girls, and youth.

* * * * *

Says CBD Executive Secretary Elizabeth Maruma Mrema: “Urgent policy action globally, regionally and nationally is required to transform economic, social and financial models so that the trends that have exacerbated biodiversity loss will stabilize by 2030 and allow for the recovery of natural ecosystems in the following 20 years, with net improvements by 2050.”

“The framework aims to galvanize this urgent and transformative action by Governments and all of society, including indigenous peoples and local communities, civil society, youth and businesses and financial institutions. It will be implemented primarily through national-level activities, supported by subnational, regional and global-level actions.”

“This is a global, outcome-oriented framework for the Convention’s 196 Parties to develop national and regional goals and targets, to update national strategies and action plans as needed, and to facilitate regular monitoring and review of progress at the global level.”

Implementation

The draft Global Biodiversity Framework notes that effective implementation requires mobilizing resources from both the public and private finance sectors, ongoing identification of risk associated with biodiversity loss capacity development, technical and scientific cooperation, technology transfer and innovation.

It also calls for integration with relevant multilateral environmental agreements and other relevant international processes, including the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and strengthening cooperation.

Successful implementation will also depend on effective outreach, awareness and uptake by all stakeholders, a comprehensive system for planning, monitoring, reporting and review that allows for transparent communication of progress, rapid course correction, and timely input in the preparation of a post-2030 Global Biodiversity Framework.

* * * * *

Background

Biodiversity and its benefits are fundamental to human well-being and a healthy planet. Despite ongoing efforts, biodiversity is deteriorating worldwide and this decline is projected to continue or worsen under business-as-usual scenarios.

The post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework builds on the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020 and sets out an ambitious plan to implement broad-based action to bring about a transformation in society’s relationship with biodiversity and to ensure that, by 2050, the shared vision of living in harmony with nature is fulfilled.

The draft framework reflects input from the second meeting of a Working Group managing the framework’s creation, as well as submissions received. The draft will be further updated in late summer with the benefit of input from the 24th meeting of the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice and the 3rd meeting of the Subsidiary Body in Implementation, as well as the advice from thematic consultations.

Relationship with 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development

The framework will contribute to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. At the same time, progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals will help to provide the conditions necessary to implement the framework.

Theory of change

The framework’s theory of change assumes that transformative actions are taken to (a) put in place tools and solutions for implementation and mainstreaming, (b) reduce the threats to biodiversity and (c) ensure that biodiversity is used sustainably in order to meet people’s needs and that these actions are supported by (i) enabling conditions, and (ii) adequate means of implementation, including financial resources, capacity and technology. It also assumes that progress is monitored in a transparent and accountable manner with adequate stocktaking exercises to ensure that, by 2030, the world is on a path to reach the 2050 Vision for Biodiversity.

The theory of change for the framework acknowledges the need for appropriate recognition of gender equality, women’s empowerment, youth, gender-responsive approaches and the full and effective participation of indigenous peoples and local communities in the implementation of this framework. Further, it is built upon the recognition that its implementation will be done in partnership with many organizations at the global, national and local levels to leverage ways to build a momentum for success. It will be implemented taking a rights-based approach and recognizing the principle of intergenerational equity.

The theory of change is complementary to and supportive of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. It also takes into account the long-term strategies and targets of other multilateral environment agreements, including the biodiversity-related and Rio conventions, to ensure synergistic delivery of benefits from all the agreements for the planet and people.

* * * * *

About the UN Convention on Biological Diversity

Opened for signature at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, and entering into force in December 1993, the Convention on Biological Diversity is an international treaty for the conservation of biodiversity, the sustainable use of the components of biodiversity and the equitable sharing of the benefits derived from the use of genetic resources.

With 196 Parties, the Convention has near universal participation.

The Convention seeks to address all threats to biodiversity and ecosystem services, including threats from climate change, through scientific assessments, the development of tools, incentives and processes, the transfer of technologies and good practices and the full and active involvement of relevant stakeholders including indigenous and local communities, youth, NGOs, women and the business community.

The Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety and the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit Sharing are supplementary agreements to the Convention. The Cartagena Protocol, which entered into force on 11 September 2003, seeks to protect biological diversity from the potential risks posed by living modified organisms resulting from modern biotechnology.

The Nagoya Protocol aims at sharing the benefits arising from the utilization of genetic resources in a fair and equitable way, including by appropriate access to genetic resources and by appropriate transfer of relevant technologies. It entered into force on 12 October 2014.

Website: cbd.int

Twitter: @UNBiodiversity

Facebook: facebook.com/UNBiodiversity

Linkedin: linkedin.com/company/unbiodiversity

* * * * *

Terry Collins & Assoc. | www.tca.tc | @TerryCollinsTC | LinkedIn.com/in/terrycollins, Toronto, M6R1L8 Canada

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Ethics and human rights should be at the core of using artificial intelligence for health, WHO says

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Geneva/New York, June 28 – In its first move to provide guidance for the application of artificial intelligence in the vast field of healthcare, the World Health Organization said humans should remain in full control of healthcare systems and medical decisions.

The health organization headquartered in Geneva has just released a 165-page report called Ethics and Governance of Artificial Intelligence for Health, which it said is the result of a two-year consultations held by departments in the WHO Science Division and its own appointed panel of international experts.

“Like all new technology, artificial intelligence holds enormous potential for improving the health of millions of people around the world, but like all technology it can also be misused and cause harm,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General.

 “This important new report provides a valuable guide for countries on how to maximize the benefits of AI, while minimizing its risks and avoiding its pitfalls.”

The report cited the benefits of AI in healthcare, which is already being used in some wealthy countries: “to improve the speed and accuracy of diagnosis and screening for diseases; to assist with clinical care; strengthen health research and drug development, and support diverse public health interventions, such as disease surveillance, outbreak response, and health systems management.”

It said AI could also empower patients to take greater control of their own health care and better understand their evolving needs. It could also enable resource-poor countries and rural communities, where patients often have restricted access to health-care workers or medical professionals, to bridge gaps in access to health services.

Dr Soumya Swaminathan, WHO Chief Scientist, said in the report’s foreword that if AI is employed “wisely” it could empower patients and communities to assume control over the healthcare systems.

“But if we do not take appropriate measures, AI could also lead to situations where decisions that should be made by providers and patients are transferred to machines, which would undermine human autonomy, as humans may neither understand how an AI technology arrives at a decision, nor be able to negotiate with a technology to reach a shared decision,” she warned.

“In the context of AI for health, autonomy means that humans should remain in full control of health-care systems and medical decisions,” Swaminathan said.

A press release issued by WHO summarized the report, parts of it are published in full in this article to reflect the organization’s true intents:

The report cautioned against overestimating the benefits of AI for health, especially when this occurs at the expense of core investments and strategies required to achieve universal health coverage.

It also points out that opportunities are linked to challenges and risks, including unethical collection and use of health data; biases encoded in algorithms, and risks of AI to patient safety, cybersecurity, and the environment.

For example, while private and public sector investment in the development and deployment of AI is critical, the unregulated use of AI could subordinate the rights and interests of patients and communities to the powerful commercial interests of technology companies or the interests of governments in surveillance and social control.

 The report also emphasizes that systems trained primarily on data collected from individuals in high-income countries may not perform well for individuals in low- and middle-income settings.

AI systems should therefore be carefully designed to reflect the diversity of socio-economic and health-care settings. They should be accompanied by training in digital skills, community engagement and awareness-raising, especially for millions of healthcare workers who will require digital literacy or retraining if their roles and functions are automated, and who must contend with machines that could challenge the decision-making and autonomy of providers and patients.

Ultimately, guided by existing laws and human rights obligations, and new laws and policies that enshrine ethical principles, governments, providers, and designers must work together to address ethics and human rights concerns at every stage of an AI technology’s design, development, and deployment.

Six principles to ensure AI works for the public interest in all countries.

To limit the risks and maximize the opportunities intrinsic to the use of AI for health, WHO provides the following principles as the basis for AI regulation and governance:

Protecting human autonomy: In the context of health care, this means that humans should remain in control of health-care systems and medical decisions; privacy and confidentiality should be protected, and patients must give valid informed consent through appropriate legal frameworks for data protection.

Promoting human well-being and safety and the public interest. The designers of AI technologies should satisfy regulatory requirements for safety, accuracy and efficacy for well- defined use cases or indications. Measures of quality control in practice and quality improvement in the use of AI must be available.

Ensuring transparency, explainability and intelligibility. Transparency requires that sufficient information be published or documented before the design or deployment of an AI technology. Such information must be easily accessible and facilitate meaningful public consultation and debate on how the technology is designed and how it should or should not be used.

Fostering responsibility and accountability. Although AI technologies perform specific tasks, it is the responsibility of stakeholders to ensure that they are used under appropriate conditions and by appropriately trained people. Effective mechanisms should be available for questioning and for redress for individuals and groups that are adversely affected by decisions based on algorithms.

 Ensuring inclusiveness and equity. Inclusiveness requires that AI for health be designed to encourage the widest possible equitable use and access, irrespective of age, sex, gender, income, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, ability or other characteristics protected under human rights codes.

Promoting AI that is responsive and sustainable. Designers, developers and users should continuously and transparently assess AI applications during actual use to determine whether AI responds adequately and appropriately to expectations and requirements. AI systems should also be designed to minimize their environmental consequences and increase energy efficiency. Governments and companies should address anticipated disruptions in the workplace, including training for health-care workers to adapt to the use of AI systems, and potential job losses due to use of automated systems.

These principles will guide future WHO work to support efforts to ensure that the full potential of AI for healthcare and public health will be used for the benefits of all.

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UN chief praises European Union as top contributor to UN system and global humanitarian assistance

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Brussels/New York, June 24 – The European Union is the world’s top supporter of the United Nations and largest humanitarian donor at a time more than 40 million people are facing famine, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in remarks to the plenary session of the European Parliament.

“We live at a time when the strategic partnership between the European Union and the United Nations is more indispensable than ever,” said Guterres, who has been re-appointed to a second, five-year term starting in January 2022. “On behalf of the United Nations, let me begin with two words: Thank you.”

Guterres said the EU and its members contributed to the UN regular and peacekeeping budgets and provided UN agencies with life-saving voluntary contributions to support development activities and other crucial work, including human rights.

“I thank you for working with the United Nations to help the most vulnerable populations in more than 170 countries,” he said. In addition, he said the EU helped to implement institutional reforms of the UN in past decades to make the organization “more agile and fit for purpose in an ever changing global environment.”

The World Food Program reported in June 2021 that 41 million people in 43 countries, up from 27 million in 2019, are “teetering on the very edge of famine.”

“I am heartbroken at what we’re facing in 2021. We now have four countries where famine-like conditions are present”, WFP chief David Beasley told the agency’s Executive Board on June 21, 2021.

WFP said hundreds of thousands of people are already experiencing famine-like conditions in Ethiopia, Madagascar, Somaiia, South Sudan and Yemen. It said people in Nigeria and Burkina Faso are also of particular concern as they have pockets where famine-like conditions are present. 

The agency said southern Madagascar is experiencing its worst drought in four decades with more than 1.14 million people threatened with food insecurity.

WFP said conflict, climate change and economic woes like soaring food prices in low-income countries can lead to widespread hunger.

“I want to emphasize just how bad it is out there. Today, 41 million people are literally knocking on famine’s door. The price tag to reach them is about US$ 6 billion. We need funding and we need it now,” Beasly said.

The EU has been in the forefront of the global efforts against the coronavirus pandemic, providing financial support to the World Health Organization’s COVAX facility on which developing and low-income countries rely on to receive vaccines against the COVID-19 virus.

Guterres said the pandemic has revealed “utterly inadequate health systems” around the world and “huge gap” in social protection and major structural inequalities “within and between countries” showing that some countries are on the way of recovery while others are still deep in infection cases and deaths.

He said unless African countries receive an additional 225 million vaccine doses now, 90 per cent of those countries will miss the target of vaccinating 10 per cent of their population by September.

On the other hand, 11 billion vaccine doses are needed in order to vaccinate 75 per cent of the world population in 2021-2022.

WHO reported that Africa is currently facing a fast-surging third wave of COVID-19 pandemic, with 474,000 new cases as of June 20, which represented a 21-per-cent increase over the previous 48-day period in 12 countries. It said the new surge is a combination of weak observance of public health measures, increased social interaction and movement as well as the spread of variants.

Such high demands of vaccines would require “voluntary licenses, technology transfers to patent pooling and flexibility on intellectual property rights” and

the mobilization of pharmaceutical companies and key industry actors, he said.

“The European Union must use its leverage as a global actor to help in this effort and ensure fair and equitable access to vaccines for all,” Guterres said.

The UN chief addressed other issues in which the EU has actively contributed, including climate change, cyber security and digital transformation. He said the EU has is the world’s prime proponent of a “more open, inclusive and secure digital future for all, and of safeguarding human rights online.”

“From cyber security governance and open data to net neutrality and the digitalization of public services, the European Union has demonstrated global leadership and set global standards,” he said, adding that the international community can emulate the human-centric European approach to digital transformation, digital rights, consumer protection, privacy, and the ethical development of artificial intelligence.

“The United Nations and the European Union have much in common,” he said.

“Both organizations were built on shared principles and a strong commitment to the international rule of law, with the aim to prevent past tragedies and build a more peaceful and prosperous world. We both aspire to put human rights at the forefront of our efforts.”

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Antonio Guterres pledges to make breakthroughs in second mandate as UN Secretary-General

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New York, June 18 – United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who was re-appointed to a second five-year term, pledged to use everything in his power to push for breakthroughs, starting with ending the pandemic and global recovery afterwards as the top priority.

Guterres took the oath of office immediately after the 193-nation UN General Assembly gave him the second term, which begins in January 2022. The assembly did so upon the recommendation by the UN Security Council, the highest political body in the UN system.

“I am humbled and energized by today’s decision of the General Assembly,“ he said. “We are at a crossroads, with consequential choices before us. It can go either way: breakdown or breakthrough. Breakdown and perpetual crisis — or breakthrough leading to a greener, safer and better future for all.”

“I will do everything in my power to push for breakthroughs,” he said. “There are reasons to be hopeful.”

Mr. António Guterres is appointed by acclamation Secretary-General of the United Nations by the UN General Assembly for a second term of office starting 1 January 2022 and ending 31 December 2026. Mr. Guterres (right) takes the oath of office for his second five-year term. The oath is administered by Volkan Bozkir, President of the seventy-fifth session of the United Nations General Assembly.

Guterres said his vision for the second mandate calls for a “ten inter-related imperatives for action,” starting with “mounting a massive and enduring response to the COVID-19 pandemic and its consequences.” He said the virus is spreading faster than vaccines while distribution of the latter has been vastly unequal, with rich countries hoarding the vaccines at the expenses of poor countries.

Other actions include the search for peace and security, making peace with nature, implementing climate action and achieving the set of Sustainable Development Goals. The visions calls for making human rights central, improving gender equality, meeting the challenge of digital transformation, advancing multilateralism and UN reform.

Guterres said the final imperative is “underpinning all our efforts. It is a focus on people — bettering the lives of individuals, families and communities. Reaffirming the dignity and worth of the human person.”

He said the driving theme of his vision is prevention in all its aspects — from conflict, climate change, pandemics to poverty and inequality.

“Indeed, our success in finding solutions to interlinked problems depends on our ability to anticipate, prevent and prepare for major risks to come,” he said. “That means more innovation, more inclusion and more foresight. It means more investment in the global public goods that sustain us all. All of this requires a reinvigorated multilateralism for the new era, based on principles of equity and solidarity.”

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WHO welcomes G7 leaders’ commitment to donate 870 million vaccine doses as part of efforts to end the pandemic

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Carbis Bay, England/Geneva/New York, June 13 – The World Health Organization welcomed the commitment by leaders of the Group of Seven wealthy democracies to donate 870 million vaccine doses to low and low-middle income countries over the next year as part of efforts to end the pandemic.

The G7 under the United Kingdom leadership ended its three-day summit with a statement with calls for more investment in all tools to end the pandemic. The G7 said most of the 870 million new vaccine doses will be delivered through the ACT Accelerator partnership, WHO’s vaccine provider, which said the total funding committed to it remains US$ 15.1 billion with a gap of over US$ 16 billion.

The G7 countries are the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan. The European Union, Australia, India, South Africa and Republic of Korea were invited as guests.

A statement by WHO said the G7 leaders confirmed their support for “all pillars of the ACT-Accelerator across treatments, tests and strengthening public health systems as well as vaccines.”

 “Additionally, they indicated their intention to work together with the private sector, the G20 and other countries to increase their vaccine contribution over the months to come. Since their G7 Early Leaders’ Summit in February 2021, the G7 has committed one billion doses in total.”

The statement said WHO Director General, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus addressed the G7 summit and urged “many other countries are now facing a surge in cases – and they are facing it without vaccines. We are in the race of our lives, but it’s not a fair race, and most countries have barely left the starting line. We welcome the generous announcements about donations of vaccines and thank leaders. But we need more, and we need them faster.”

WHO said over US$ 16 billion are still needed in 2021 to fully fund the work of ACT-Accelerator In order to deliver products where they are most needed, help establish testing for 500 million people in low- and middle-income countries by mid-2021 and help secure the necessary supply of oxygen as well as distribute 165 million doses of treatments including dexamethasone which can save lives of people critically ill with COVID.

Carl Bildt, WHO Special Envoy for the ACT Accelerator, said: “We welcome these commitments but there is still a significant funding gap that must be closed if we are to get the urgently needed treatments, including oxygen, and tests, to low and lower-middle income countries so we aren’t flying blind to where the virus is and how it’s changing. The time to act is now. We look to the G7 and G20 to fund the work of the ACT Accelerator, the global multilateral solution that can speed up an end to the pandemic. The world needs their political leadership because left to rage anywhere, the virus will remain a threat everywhere.”

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Scientists say biodiversity loss and climate change resulted from human activities and must be tackled together

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The Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) launched on June 10, 2021, a peer-reviewed report based on a 4-day virtual workshop on addressing the biodiversity and climate crises together involving 50 jointly selected international experts.

IPBES/IPCC Workshop Report:

Tackling the Biodiversity and Climate Crises Together, and Their Combined Social Impacts

Global experts identify key options for solutions; First-ever collaboration between IPBES- and IPCC-selected scientists.

(Editor’s note: The media release from IPBES is published as is on this website to respect its integrity)

BONN, 10 June – Unprecedented changes in climate and biodiversity, driven by human activities, have combined and increasingly threaten nature, human lives, livelihoods and well-being around the world. Biodiversity loss and climate change are both driven by human economic activities and mutually reinforce each other. Neither will be successfully resolved unless both are tackled together.

This is the message of a workshop report, published today by 50 of the world’s leading biodiversity and climate experts

The peer-reviewed workshop report (available for media preview here) is the product of a four-day virtual workshop between experts selected by a 12-person Scientific Steering Committee assembled by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) – the first-ever collaboration between these two intergovernmental bodies.

The report finds that previous policies have largely tackled biodiversity loss and climate change independently of each other, and that addressing the synergies between mitigating biodiversity loss and climate change, while considering their social impacts, offers the opportunity to maximize benefits and meet global development goals.

“Human-caused climate change is increasingly threatening nature and its contributions to people, including its ability to help mitigate climate change. The warmer the world gets, the less food, drinking water and other key contributions nature can make to our lives, in many regions” said Prof. Hans-Otto Pörtner, co-chair of the Scientific Steering Committee

“Changes in biodiversity, in turn, affect climate, especially through impacts on nitrogen, carbon and water cycles,” he said. “The evidence is clear: a sustainable global future for people and nature is still achievable, but it requires transformative change with rapid and far-reaching actions of a type never before attempted, building on ambitious emissions reductions. Solving some of the strong and apparently unavoidable trade-offs between climate and biodiversity will entail a profound collective shift of individual and shared values concerning nature – such as moving away from the conception of economic progress based solely on GDP growth, to one that balances human development with multiple values of nature for a good quality of life, while not overshooting biophysical and social limits.”

The authors also warn that narrowly focused actions to combat climate change can directly and indirectly harm nature and vice-versa, but many measures exist that can make significant positive contributions in both areas.

Among the most important available actions identified in the report are:

* Stopping the loss and degradation of carbon- and species-rich ecosystems on land and in the ocean, especially forests, wetlands, peatlands, grasslands and savannahs; coastal ecosystems such as mangroves, salt marshes, kelp forests and seagrass meadows; as well as deep water and polar blue carbon habitats. The report highlights that reducing deforestation and forest degradation can contribute to lowering human-caused greenhouse gas emissions, by a wide range from 0.4-5.8 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent every year.

* Restoring carbon- and species-rich ecosystems. The authors point to evidence that restoration is among the cheapest and quickest nature-based climate mitigation measures to implement – offering much-needed habitat for plants and animals, thus enhancing resilience of biodiversity in the face of climate change, with many other benefits such as flood regulation, coastal protection, enhanced water quality, reduced soil erosion and ensuring pollination. Ecosystem restoration can also create jobs and income, especially when taking into consideration the needs and access rights of indigenous peoples and local communities.

* Increasing sustainable agricultural and forestry practices to improve the capacity to adapt to climate change, enhance biodiversity, increase carbon storage and reduce emissions. These include measures such as diversification of planted crop and forest species, agroforestry and agroecology. Improved management of cropland and grazing systems, such as soil conservation and the reduction of fertilizer use, is jointly estimated by the report to offer annual climate change mitigation potential of 3-6 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent.

* Enhancing and better-targeting conservation actions, coordinated with and supported by strong climate adaptation and innovation. Protected areas currently represent about 15% of land and 7.5% of the ocean. Positive outcomes are expected from substantially increasing intact and effectively protected areas. Global estimates of exact requirements for effectively protected and conserved areas to ensure a habitable climate, self-sustaining biodiversity and a good quality of life are not yet well established but range from 30 to 50 percent of all ocean and land surface areas. Options to improve the positive impacts of protected areas include greater resourcing, better management and enforcement, and improved distribution with increased inter-connectivity between these areas. Conservation measures beyond protected areas are also spotlighted – including migration corridors and planning for shifting climates, as well as better integration of people with nature to assure equity of access and use of nature’s contributions to people.

* Eliminating subsidies that support local and national activities harmful to biodiversity – such as deforestation, over-fertilization and over-fishing, can also support climate change mitigation and adaptation, together with changing individual consumption patterns, reducing loss and waste, and shifting diets, especially in rich countries, toward more plant-based options.

Some focused climate mitigation and adaptation measures identified by the report as harmful to biodiversity and nature’s contributions to people include:

* Planting bioenergy crops in monocultures over a very large share of land areas. Such crops are detrimental to ecosystems when deployed at very large scales, reducing nature’s contributions to people and impeding achievement of many of the Sustainable Development Goals. At small scales, alongside pronounced and rapid reductions in fossil-fuel emissions, dedicated bioenergy crops for electricity production or fuels may provide co-benefits for climate adaptation and biodiversity.

* Planting trees in ecosystems that have not historically been forests and reforestation with monocultures – especially with exotic tree species. This can contribute to climate change mitigation but is often damaging to biodiversity, food production and other nature’s contributions to people, has no clear benefits for climate adaptation, and may displace local people through competition for land.

* Increasing irrigation capacity. A common response to adapt agricultural systems to drought that often leads to water conflicts, dam building and long- term soil degradation from salinization.

* Any measures that focus too narrowly on climate change mitigation should be evaluated in terms of their overall benefits and risks, such as some renewable energies generating surges of mining activity or consuming large amounts of land. The same applies to some technical measures too narrowly focused on adaptation, such as building dams and sea walls. Although important options for mitigating and adapting to climate change exist, these can have large negative environmental and social impacts – such as interference with migratory species and habitat fragmentation. Such impacts can be minimized, for instance, by developing alternative batteries and long-lived products, efficient recycling systems for mineral resources, and approaches to mining that include strong considerations for environmental and social sustainability.

The report authors stress that while nature offers effective ways to help mitigate climate change, these solutions can only be effective if building on ambitious reductions in all human-caused greenhouse gas emissions. “Land and ocean are already doing a lot – absorbing almost 50% of CO2 from human emissions – but nature cannot do everything,” said Ana María Hernández Salgar, Chair of IPBES. “Transformative change in all parts of society and our economy is needed to stabilize our climate, stop biodiversity loss and chart a path to the sustainable future we want. This will also require us to address both crises together, in complementary ways.”

Highlighting the significance of the co-sponsored workshop, Dr. Hoesung Lee, Chair of the IPCC, said: “Climate change and biodiversity loss combine to threaten society – often magnifying and accelerating each other. By focusing on synergies and trade-offs between biodiversity protection and climate change mitigation and adaptation, this workshop advanced the debate on how to maximize benefits to people and the planet. It also represented an important step in collaboration between our two communities.”

“It may be impossible to achieve win-win synergies, or even manage the tradeoffs between climate and biodiversity actions in every single patch of a landscape or seascape,” said Prof. Pörtner, “But achieving sustainable outcomes becomes progressively easier when integrating a mix of actions at larger spatial scales, through cross-border collaboration and joint consultative spatial planning, which is why it is important to also address the lack of effective governance systems and mechanisms to improve integration between solutions for climate change and biodiversity.”

The Governments of the United Kingdom and of Norway co-hosted the virtual workshop. “This is an absolutely critical year for nature and climate,” said Lord Zac Goldsmith, UK Minister of State for Pacific and the Environment. “With the UN Biodiversity Conference in Kunming, and the Glasgow Climate Change Conference in the UK, we have an opportunity and responsibility to put the world on a path to recovery. This hugely valuable report by the experts of IPBES and IPCC makes it clear that addressing biodiversity loss and climate change together offers our best chance of doing so.”

Sveinung Rotevatn, Norwegian Minister for Climate and Environment added: “Policies, efforts and actions to solve the global biodiversity and climate crises will only succeed if they are based on the best knowledge and evidence, which is why Norway welcomes this expert workshop report. It is clear that we cannot solve these threats in isolation – we either solve both or we solve neither.”

Paying tribute to the work of all the authors and expert reviewers, the Executive Secretary of IPBES, Dr. Anne Larigauderie, also recalled the recent and tragic passing of Prof. Robert Scholes, the other Co-Chair of the workshop’s Scientific Steering Committee, and his many contributions to both the IPCC and IPBES.

It is important to note that the workshop report has not been subjected to IPBES or IPCC review, and that IPBES and IPCC co-sponsorship of the workshop does not imply IPBES or IPCC endorsement or approval of the workshop or its conclusions.

The report is available post-embargo at www.ipbes.net/biodiversityclimatescience

Terry Collins & Assoc. | www.tca.tc | @TerryCollinsTC | LinkedIn.com/in/terrycollins, Toronto, M6R1L8 Canada

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UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres nominated for second five-year term

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New York, June 8 – The United Nations Security Council formally nominated Antonio Guterres, the current UN chief, to serve another five-year term beginning in January 2022.

The 15-nation council, the highest political body in the UN system, took the decision in a closed-door session by adopting a resolution to nominate Guterres, a politician and former prime minister of Portugal. It plans to recommend that the 193-nation UN General Assembly formally approve the decision.

Under the UN process of electing its top leader, the council has the privilege to select a candidate and then recommend him/her to the assembly for a final approval.

The UN News reported that Guterres expressed in a statement his “great honor” to be selected, and thanked council members for placing their trust in him.

“My gratitude also extends to Portugal, for having nominated me again”, he added.

“It has been an immense privilege to be at the service of ‘we, the peoples’ and at the helm of the amazing women and men of this Organization for the past four and a half years, when we have been facing so many complex challenges.” said the UN chief.

“I would be deeply humbled if the General Assembly were to entrust me with the responsibilities of a second mandate.” 

Before his nomination by the council, Guterres took part in an informal conversation with countries that members of the assembly in May as part of the selection process in the UN. He also made public his vision statement for a second five-year term in March, UN News said.

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UN urges global insurance industry to invest in climate programs for net zero carbon emissions

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London/New York, June 8 – The United Nations is calling on the global insurance industry, which controls over US$ 35 trillion in assets under management, to align its investments and porfolios with programs aimed at achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050.

The call by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was delivered to the Insurance Development Forum (IDF) as it closed its June 7-8 meeting in London. IDF is a public-private partnership led by the insurance industry and supported by international organizations.

The finance ministers of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States, the world’s seven most advanced countries known as G7 were also meeting in London. A summit of G7 leaders is to take place in London June 11.

“I am pleased to close this year’s Insurance Development Forum, which provides industry and development actors a platform to promote the transformation we need for a sustainable future for all on a healthy planet,” Guterres said in remarks to the concluding forum. “We are in a race against time to adapt to a rapidly changing climate.”

“Your investments should not be contributing to climate pollution but should be directed towards climate solutions,” he said. “Invest in renewables, low- and zero-carbon transport and climate resilient infrastructure.”

He said some 20 insurance companies that are asset owners have joined the Net Zero Asset Owner Alliance in 2019. He said the Alliance is a gold standard setting credible and transparent targets and timelines to back the net zero pledges made by its members.

Guterres said the world is facing three imperatives to address the climate crisis: achieve global carbon neutrality by 2050, align global finance behind the Paris Agreement and deliver a breakthrough on adaptation to protect the world from climate impacts.

“We need net zero commitments to cover your underwriting portfolios, and this should include the underwriting of coal — and all fossil fuels,” Guterres said, adding that the upcoming international conference on climate change known as COP 26 in Glasgow in November “must signal the end of coal.”

“I support the G7 commitment to end all public international support for coal by the end of this year,” he said.

(Explanations provided by Wikipedia): Carbon neutrality refers to achieving net-zero carbon dioxide emissions. This can be done by balancing emissions of carbon dioxide with its removal (often through carbon offsetting) or by eliminating emissions from society (the transition to the “post-carbon economy”). It is used in the context of carbon dioxide-releasing processes associated with transportation, energy production, agriculture, and industry.

Although the term “carbon neutral” is used, a carbon footprint also includes other greenhouse gases, usually carbon-based, measured in terms of their carbon dioxide equivalence. The term climate-neutral reflects the broader inclusiveness of other greenhouse gases in climate change, even if CO2 is the most abundant. The term “net zero” is increasingly used to describe a broader and more comprehensive commitment to decarbonization and climate action, moving beyond carbon neutrality by including more activities under the scope of indirect emissions, and often including a science-based target on emissions reduction, as opposed to relying solely on offsetting.

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UN Urges Intense Restoration of Nature to Address Climate and Biodiversity Crises

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June 3 – Launching the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, UNEP and the FAO call on nations to meet by 2030 their collective commitments under multilateral environment agreements to restore at least 1 billion degraded hectares of land – an area roughly the size of China – and to add similar commitments for oceans.

A new joint report documents the urgent need for restoration, the financial investments required and their potential returns, and says conservation and protection are not enough to address the triple crises of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution: The world needs more nature.

Facing the triple threat of climate change, loss of nature and pollution, the world must deliver on its commitment to restore at least one billion degraded hectares of land in the next decade – an area about the size of China. Countries also need to add similar commitments for oceans, according to a new report by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO), launched as the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration 2021-2030 gets underway.

The report, #GenerationRestoration: Ecosystem restoration for People, Nature and Climate, highlights that humanity is using about 1.6 times the amount of services that nature can provide sustainably.

That means conservation efforts alone are insufficient to prevent large-scale ecosystem collapse and biodiversity loss. Global terrestrial restoration costs – not including costs of restoring marine ecosystems – are estimated to be at least US$200 billion per year by 2030. The report outlines that every US$ 1 invested in restoration creates up to US$30 in economic benefits.

Ecosystems requiring urgent restoration include farmlands, forests, grasslands and savannahs, mountains, peatlands, urban areas, freshwaters, and oceans.

Communities living across almost two billion of degraded hectares of land include some of the world’s poorest and marginalized.

“This report presents the case for why we must all throw our weight behind a global restoration effort. Drawing on the latest scientific evidence, it sets out the crucial role played by ecosystems, from forests and farmland to rivers and oceans, and it charts the losses that result from a poor stewardship of the planet,” UNEP Executive Director, Inger Andersen, and FAO Director-General, QU Dongyu, wrote in the report’s foreword.

“Degradation is already affecting the well-being of an estimated 3.2 billion people – that is 40 percent of the world’s population. Every single year we lose ecosystem services worth more than 10 percent of our global economic output,” they added, stressing that “massive gains await us” by reversing these trends.

Ecosystem restoration is the process of halting and overturning degradation, resulting in cleaner air and water, extreme weather mitigation, better human health, and recovered biodiversity, including improved pollination of plants. Restoration encompasses a wide continuum of practices, from reforestation to re-wetting peatlands and coral rehabilitation.

It contributes to the realization of multiple Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including health, clean water, and peace and security, and to the objectives of the three ‘Rio Conventions’ on Climate, Biodiversity, and Desertification.

Actions that prevent, halt and reverse degradation are necessary to meet the Paris Agreement target of keeping global temperature rise well below 2 degrees Celsius.

Restoration, if combined with stopping further conversion of natural ecosystems, may help avoid 60 percent of expected biodiversity extinctions.

It can be highly efficient in producing multiple economic, social and ecological benefits concurrently – for example, agroforestry alone has the potential to increase food security for 1.3 billion people, while investments in agriculture, mangrove protection and water management will help adapt to climate change, with benefits around four times the original investment.

Reliable monitoring of restoration efforts is essential, both to track progress and to attract private and public investments. In support of this effort, FAO and UNEP also launch today the Digital Hub for the UN Decade, which includes the Framework for Ecosystem Restoration Monitoring.

The Framework enables countries and communities to measure the progress of restoration projects across key ecosystems, helping to build ownership and trust in restoration efforts. It also incorporates the Drylands Restoration Initiatives Platform, which collects and analyses data, shares lessons and assists in the design of drylands restoration projects, and an interactive geospatial mapping tool to assess the best locations for forest restoration.

Restoration must involve all stakeholders including individuals, businesses, associations, and governments. Crucially, it must respect the needs and rights of Indigenous Peoples and local communities, and incorporate their knowledge, experience and capacities to ensure restoration plans are implemented and sustained.                    

* * * * *

The UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration 2021-2030 is a rallying call for the protection and revival of ecosystems all around the world, for the benefit of people and nature. It aims to halt the degradation of ecosystems and restore them to achieve global goals. The United Nations General Assembly has proclaimed the UN Decade and it is led by the United Nations Environment Programme and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. The UN Decade is building a strong, broad-based global movement to ramp up restoration and put the world on track for a sustainable future. That will include building political momentum for restoration as well as thousands of initiatives on the ground.

About the UN Environment Programme (UNEP)

UNEP is the leading global voice on the environment. It provides leadership and encourages partnership in caring for the environment by inspiring, informing and enabling nations and peoples to improve their quality of life without compromising that of future generations.

About the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO)

The FAO is a specialized agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger and transform agri-food systems, making them more resilient, sustainable and inclusive. Our goal is to achieve food security for all and make sure that people have regular access to enough high-quality food to lead active, healthy lives. With over 194 Members, FAO works in over 130 countries worldwide.

###

Contacts:

Terry Collins & Assoc. / tca.tc / linkedin.com/in/terrycollins | 295 Wright Ave., Toronto, ON M6R1L8 Canada

Terry Collins, tc@tca.tc, +1-416-878-8712

Keisha Rukikaire, rukikaire@un.org 254-722-677-747

Moses Osani, moses.osani@un.org

Peter Mayer, +39 06 570 53304, peter.mayer@fao.org

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End the pandemic with US$ 50 billion investment, world’s largest health, trade and finance organizations say

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Geneva/Washington/New York, June 1 – Leaders of the world’s four largest health, finance and trade organizations are jointly urging governments to invest US$ 50 billion in order to generate US$ 9 trillion in global economic returns by 2025. They said such an investment would lead to an accelerated end of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus of the World Health Organization (WHO), Kristalina Georgieva of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), David Malpass of the World Bank Group and Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala of World Trade Organization (WTO) said  In a statement published by newspapers around the world that the US $50 billion in new investment is needed to increase manufacturing capacity, supply, trade flows, and delivery, which would accelerate the equitable distribution of diagnostics, oxygen, treatments, medical supplies and vaccines. This injection would also give a major boost to economic growth around the world.

“By now it has become abundantly clear there will be no broad-based recovery without an end to the health crisis. Access to vaccination is key to both,” the leaders said.

“There has been impressive progress on the vaccination front. Scientists have come up with multiple vaccines in record time. Unprecedented public and private financing has supported vaccine research, development and manufacturing scale-up. But a dangerous gap between richer and poorer nations persists.”

“At an estimated $50 billion, it will bring the pandemic to an end faster in the developing world, reduce infections and loss of lives, accelerate the economic recovery, and generate some $9 trillion in additional global output by 2025. “

“Increasing our ambition and vaccinating more people faster: WHO and its COVAX partners have set a goal of vaccinating approximately 30 per cent of the population in all countries by the end of 2021,” said the four leaders. “But this can reach even 40 per cent through other agreements and surge investment, and at least 60 percent by the first half of 2022.” 

The statement said US$ 35 billion of the US$ 50 billion could be in the form of grants as the G20 governments have shown willingness to provide about US$ 22 billion in additional funding for 2021 to the ACT-Accelerator, the WHO’s main program for vaccines.

The statement said an additional US$ 13 billion are needed to boost vaccine supply in 2022 and further scale up testing, therapeutics and surveillance. The remainder of the overall financing plan—around US$15 billion—could come from national governments supported by multilateral development banks, including the World Bank’s US$12 billion financial facility for vaccination.

“Investing US$ 50 billion to end the pandemic is potentially the best use of public money we will see in our lifetimes,” the statement said. “It will pay a huge development dividend and boost growth and well-being globally. But the window of opportunity is closing fast — the longer we wait, the costlier it becomes, in human suffering and in economic losses.” 

“On behalf of our four organizations, today we announce a new commitment to work togetherto scale up needed financing, boost manufacturing and ensure the smooth flow of vaccines and raw materials across borders to dramatically increase vaccine access to support the health response and economic recovery, and to bring needed hope”.

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