G20 Summit 2020 will be held virtually on November 21-22, says Saudi Arabia

As the COVID-19 pandemic is driving the shift from in-person summits to go virtual, Saudi Arabia in a statement on Monday, September 28 said that this year’s G20 leaders summit will be held remotely on November 21 and November 22. The Gulf nation took over the rotating G20 presidency in 2020 and announced the theme for the summit as ‘Realizing opportunities of the 21st century for all’ chaired by Saudi Arabia's King Salman. 

The meeting will reportedly focus on topics including energy market stability amid low oil and gas prices and lacklustre demand along with focussing on the protection of public health and recovering from the vulnerabilities exposed while the world battled the pandemic. As per the statement, the G20 will also touch upon climate crisis and discuss the ways the leaders can "protect our planet".

"The G20 presidency will build on the success of the extraordinary virtual G20 Leaders’ Summit held in March, and on the outcomes of over 100 virtual working groups and ministerial meetings," the statement said. “The G20 is leading the fight against this global pandemic, taking swift and unprecedented actions to protect lives, livelihoods and the most vulnerable.”

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G20 contributed $21 billion for COVID-19

Elaborating on how G20 countries have been at the forefront of the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, in the same statement Saudi Arabia noted that the member countries have contributed more than $21 billion for the production and distribution of vaccines along with injecting a separate amount of $11 trillion to protect the plunging global economy. Furthermore, G20 has also launched the debt suspension initiative for the least developed nations.

It said, “The G20 has contributed over USD21 billion to support the production, distribution, and access to diagnostics, therapeutics, and vaccines; injected USD11 trillion to safeguard the global economy and, launched a debt suspension initiative for the least developed countries that would allow beneficiary countries to defer USD14 billion in debt payments due this year and use these amounts instead for financing their health systems and social programs.”

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Image Credit: Twitter/@G20Australia/ Representative Image