At G-20, Pedro Sánchez calls for universal access to COVID-19 vaccines and more effective multilateral cooperation

Moncloa Palace, Madrid

In his speech at Saturday's plenary session, the President of the Government stressed the need to guarantee fair, equal and universal access to COVID-19 vaccines.

He also called for unequivocal support for global efforts, headed up by the World Health Organization to do away with the pandemic. "We will not be safe until we are all safe", remarked Pedro Sánchez.

Given that COVID-19 has killed 1.3 million people around the world, left millions of children without education and left millions of families in poverty, Pedro Sánchez also called, at the G-20 meeting, for more multilateral cooperation to tackle common challenges and "to speed up a fair, inclusive and sustainable recovery that leaves no-one behind".

The G20, a key party in addressing the debt of vulnerable countries and inequality

Pedro Sánchez considers that the G-20 should continue to play a key role in addressing the economic consequences stemming from the pandemic, with a particular focus on the most vulnerable.

As regards debt, the President of the Government welcomed the decision taken by the richest countries to extend the "Debt Service Suspension Initiative" and the adoption of the "Common Framework for Managing Debt" until June 2021. These are two initiatives to help the most vulnerable countries tackle the economic crisis. Pedro Sánchez also asked that debt risks of other developing economies are not forgotten, particularly in Latin America and the Caribbean.

In his speech, the President of the Government regretted the increase in inequality stemming from the pandemic, particularly for unskilled workers. To that end, he highlighted the importance of countries guaranteeing a dignified standard of living and called for strengthening social protection systems.

The President of the Government also reaffirmed his commitment to making progress on the 2030 Agenda and on the Sustainable Development Goals, "a genuine social contract that must guide our efforts", he remarked.

Fairer trade and the challenge of digital taxation

In the process of exiting the economic crisis triggered by COVID-19, Pedro Sánchez asked the world to speed up the transition towards more sustainable production systems and consumption patterns. As regards trade, Pedro Sánchez feels that the time has come to make it fairer and more inclusive, to which end he called for an ambitious reform of the World Trade Organization to ensure that everyone follows the rules. "Unilateral responses will not resolve our problems", he stated to the members of the G-20.

Pedro Sánchez also called for a global agreement to be reached on on a digital tax, given that the dominant position of digital companies has been further strengthened by the pandemic.

Non official translation