Antonio Guterres, the UN Secretary General, told the Munich Security Conference on Friday that vaccine equity is the key test for world leaders in the pandemic.
Mr Guterres said Covid-19 had exposed "deep fissures and fragilities" and 2021 must be the year to get back on track. "Pandemic recovery is our chance," he said. Four imperatives stand out. First, a Global Vaccination Plan. Vaccines must be available and affordable for everyone, everywhere. Vaccine equity is crucial for saving lives and saving economies.
The mutation of the virus could mean that the disease would resist vaccines and come back to haunt those countries that monopolised the rollout.
He called for a G20-led emergency task force to bring together the capacity to double the vaccine manufacturing capacity. He said the UN would weigh in to back a Global Vaccine Plan.
Mr Guterres also called for a global push to dramatically slash emissions. "Countries representing more than 65 per cent of emissions and more than 70 per cent of the world economy have committed to net zero greenhouse emissions by 2050," he said. "Let’s expand this coalition to 90 per cent by the November Climate Conference in Glasgow." He described a "Great Fracture" and said the world could not afford a future where the two largest economies split the globe in two opposing areas.
"A technological and economic divide risks turning into a geo-strategic and military divide," he said "We must avoid this at all costs.
Mr Guterres added multilateral cooperation was coming back as nationalist and populist leaders were overwhelmed by the demands of the pandemic.