Health

Will the G20 save the day?

June 30, 2021

Global

EIU COVID-19 Health Funding Tracker

June 30, 2021

Global
Alan Lovell

Senior manager, Policy and insights

Alan is a senior manager in the health team at Economist Impact. Alan has a degree in Biology from Royal Holloway, University of London, and gained his doctorate from the University of Warwick. He worked as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Sainte-Justine Hospital, University of Montreal before receiving an MA with distinction in Information Studies from the University of Brighton. Alan has advised and worked on a range of projects for governments, health ministries, manufacturers, providers, insurers, academic journals, research funders and sporting associations.

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After the disappointment of G7, all eyes turn to Italy and the upcoming G20 meeting in October

Our post looked at the mixed reaction to the pledging announcements made at the G7 summit in Cornwall earlier this month. Many are now looking to the , to be held on the 30 and 31 October, with the hope that perhaps more generous support will be forthcoming.

In the lead up to the summit, , an advocacy group based in Paris, has drawn attention to which G20 countries have contributed their “” of funding to the ACT-Accelerator. The fair share for each country has been calculated by a working group within ACT-A’s Facilitation Council. It is determined based on each country’s income level (GDP), “economic openness” (which incorporates the IMF’s ), and GDP per capita.

Comparing these calculations to the amounts actually donated, only Germany, Canada and Saudi Arabia have met (or in Germany’s case, substantially exceeded) their fair share. The rest of the G20 countries fall short. The next best performing countries are the UK at 70%, Italy on 64% and the US at 63%. At the bottom of the table, seven countries in the G20 have not committed anything: China, India, Brazil, Russia, Turkey, Argentina and South Africa. 

Closing the gap won’t be easy, and it will take more than good intentions. It’s been suggested that to mobilise such a large amount so quickly, countries will need to implement innovative financing mechanisms, since Official Development Assistance will not be enough. We should also remind ourselves that the G20 is a , with no binding decision-making powers, so we need to have realistic expectations of the summit.

While onlookers and campaigners remain hopeful, particularly with regards to an by this year’s G20 Italian presidency, it would be a mistake to wait until October and for the G20 to step in and save the day.

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