WASHINGTON: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday said the Covid-19 pandemic had accentuated endemic inequalities among nations and posed a serious threat to the global economy.

Addressing the UN General Assembly at a high-level political forum on sustainable development, the prime minister urged the world body to ensure universal and affordable access to Covid-19 vaccine.

“The world is facing an unprecedented triple challenge: the Covid-19 pandemic; the reversal of economic progress; and the existential threat posed by climate change,” he said.

Mr Khan said the sustainable development and climate goals (SDGs), set by the United Nations, must be achieved to help the global economy recover from the negative impact of the pandemic. “The global economy will not recover fully until all countries — rich and poor — are enabled to accelerate and expand investment for achieving [these] goals,” he said.

Calls for building back better by investing in sustainable development and climate goals

Munir Akram, Pakistan’s permanent representative, who also heads the UN Economic and Security Council (ECOSOC), noted that the world was still reeling from the Covid-19 pandemic.

“International solidarity and cooperation are essential to enable us today more than ever to come together and build a sustainable and resilient recovery from the pandemic,” he said.

President Joko Widodo of Indonesia, Chancellor Sebastian Kurz of Austria and Vice President Marta Lucía Ramírez Blanco of Colombia also addressed the conference.

Prime Minister Khan informed the UN body how Pakistan overcame its Covid-19 crisis with “smart lockdowns” focused on the disadvantaged. “We managed to save precious lives and at the same time livelihoods and…are now making all possible efforts to accelerate our vaccination campaign,” he said.

Mr Khan underlined certain measures that he said were indispensable to respond effectively to the triple crises, including affordable access to Covid-19 vaccine and ensuring its rapid distribution.

Similarly, the measures include waiving intellectual property rights, even if temporary, vaccine production under licence, full funding of the Covax facility and provision of grants and concessional lending to enable developing countries to purchase vaccines at fair prices.

Mobilising adequate finance to enable developing countries to meet the triple challenge of Covid recovery, SDG implementation and realisation of environmental goals.

According to UN statistics, the high-income countries have injected $17 trillion to stimulate their economies while developing countries needed at least $4.3 trillion to recover from the crises and implement the SDGs. They have so far secured access to less than five per cent of this amount.

“I hope that at least $150 billion will be re-allocated to finance sustainable development projects and programmes in developing countries through the IMF, World Bank and other development banks and institutions,” Prime Minister Khan said.

He also underlined the need for fulfilling the commitments — of about $100 billion — that the rich countries have made to help developing countries recover from the pandemic and meet their climate goals.

Noting that accumulated climate finance commitment now amounts to over $1 trillion, Mr Khan said at least 50 per cent of climate finance should be allocated for adaptation. “Pakistan’s landmark projects such as our Recharge initiative and 10 billion Tree Tsunami project can benefit greatly from such support,” he added.

He also emphasised the need for national and international development strategies to target sectors that enable developing countries to respond to the triple challenge.

Published in Dawn, July 14th, 2021