German Chancellor and Italian Prime Minister stress need for access to vaccines for poorest countries
Berlin, May, 28th 2021 – German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Mario Draghi, Italy’s Prime Minister and President of the G20, kicked off the second day of the Global Solutions Summit by making a strong case for multilateralism and global cooperation in tackling global issues including the coronavirus pandemic and climate change.
“The pandemic shows that all of the attempts to fight it at the national level will simply not be sufficient, it cannot be sufficient in order to overcome the Covid-19 crisis,” Merkel said. “We need to ensure access in all countries – access to vaccines, to medication, to tests, and this is true for the poorest countries in the world.”
The German chancellor said she took pride in the fact that Europe is exporting vaccines to other nations, and warned that incentives should not be reduced for vaccine research and development in preparing for future health threats.
Draghi said that at the beginning of the pandemic, “multilateralism was weak … because there wasn’t enough of it.”
“Multilateralism is now bouncing back,” he said, stressing that Italy, which holds the G20 presidency this year, is “determined to lead a change in the paradigm – the world means the world, not a collection of individual states.”
Draghi said the European Union “has shown its sovereignty in the vaccine campaign,” and called for “a joined sovereignty in Europe in many fields besides the health area.”
By Sophie Wingate, on behalf of the Global Solutions Initiative
Notes to the Editors
The Global Solutions Summit 2021 took a hybrid virtual and in-person format due to the Corona pandemic this year. In the studio, which was be set up in-house at the Berlin European School of Management Technology (ESMT), participants from all over the world connected with moderators and speakers attended in person from the studio. A digital platform allowed all participants not only to follow the presentations and discussions, but also to exchange ideas with other attendees. “The appeal of the physical Summit has always been the ability to meet face-to-face with many like-minded people. It is exceedingly important to us that much of this can also take place in the digital space,” stressed Dennis J. Snower.
The program and an overview of the most interesting speakers are available here: https://www.global-solutions-initiative.org/events/summit/summit-2021/
About the Global Solutions Summit
The Global Solutions Summit is held annually by the Global Solutions Initiative, a global think tank network which contributes to greater continuity and impact within G20 policy arenas, by bringing together G20 leaders and leading scientists to find solutions to the world’s great challenges. The Global Solutions Initiative is chaired by Professor Dennis J. Snower, President emeritus of the Kiel Institute for the World Economy. The Global Solutions Summit is a T20-associated event. The T20 is one of the official G20 engagement groups and comprises the most important think tanks of the G20 countries.
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About the Global Solutions Initiative
The Global Solutions Initiative is a global collaborative enterprise that proposes policy responses to major global problems, addressed by the G20, the G7 and other global governance fora. The policy recommendations and strategic visions are generated through a disciplined research program by leading research organizations, elaborated in policy dialogues between researchers, policymakers, business leaders and civil society representatives.