Saudi G20 Presidency: Moving From Recovery Towards a Prosperous Future

The 2020 G20 Riyadh Summit, which was held from November 21-22, was an exceptional affair. Faced with great challenges and responsibility, the Kingdom undertook the leadership of the forum during some of the toughest times brought about by the coronavirus pandemic which affected health, economic, and social facets of life.

It is not an exaggeration to say that it was a decisive year in which Saudi Arabia led G20 countries along the journey of protecting humanity and planet earth from the pandemic’s repercussions. The group held extraordinary meetings to find effective solutions at health, humanitarian, social, and economic levels.

Despite difficult circumstances, the Saudi presidency did not abandon the forum’s principal agenda.

The Kingdom’s presidency set human empowerment, preserving the planet, and shaping new horizons as three main axes that guide the work of the G20, and these axes remained important pillars for reaching solutions to limit the effects of the pandemic on the world.

On human empowerment, the Saudi presidency of the G20 committed itself to ensuring a comprehensive recovery from the pandemic’s fallout and to addressing inequality in receiving diagnostic tools, vaccines, and treatments.

The kingdom also eyed creating appropriate conditions that enable people to live, work, and prosper. G20 immediate actions included protecting lives and jobs from the pandemic’s aftermath.

On preserving the planet, Saudi Arabia worked to unite the stances of G20 countries to work on policies that promote a better more sustainable future, including the importance of conserving the environment and natural resources and addressing climate change.

On creating new horizons, the Saudi presidency poured its effort into speeding recovery from the pandemic. It did so through harnessing the potential of digital technologies and setting the necessary frameworks to promote equal opportunities and ensure electronic communication for all, especially in health services, education, and trade.

The Saudi presidency’s response to the pandemic was both quick and effective, as the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud - may God protect him - called for an extraordinary summit of G20 leaders last March, a first in G20 history, with the aim of discussing pandemic circumstances and finding ways to address them.

Saudi Arabia has managed to set a distinguished example for the whole world on crisis management. All leaders responded to this important call, actively and decisively approving a number of policies and initiatives that have contributed to limiting the health, social, and economic impacts of the pandemic in all countries.

Last month, G20 countries concluded their work for 2020 by holding the Riyadh Summit, where tangible success could be felt despite the exceptional circumstances. In its final statement, the summit launched major global initiatives and adopted important policies aimed at addressing the pandemic, protecting lives and livelihoods, and building a more robust, sustainable, and inclusive future.

Saudi Arabia received positive feedback from world leaders and international organizations who welcomed the final statement and recognized the huge efforts exerted by the kingdom in cooperation with fellow G20 states.

Going over G20 achievements this year, the Kingdom’s presidency worked to re-align the group’s plan of action to confront the pandemic. G20 leaders committed to taking all necessary measures to overcome the pandemic and protect lives, jobs, and vulnerable groups.

G20 states, collectively, pumped over 11 trillion dollars into the global economy. They also pledged more than 21 billion dollars at the beginning of the crisis to support international efforts to develop diagnostic tools, vaccines, and effective treatments.

Stemming out of its belief in the importance of supporting international efforts to immediately address the pandemic, Saudi Arabia contributed 500 million dollars.

Focused on restoring growth, the Saudi presidency led joint efforts to develop policies and initiatives centered on sparking strong, sustainable, balanced, and comprehensive growth.

G20 leaders also pledged to make all efforts to ensure that new coronavirus vaccines reach everyone in a fair way and that the remaining financing needs for these vaccines are met.

Also, G20 countries established the Debt Service Suspension Initiative, allowing 73 countries to be eligible for a temporary suspension of debt-service payments owed to their official bilateral creditors. This will reduce debt burdens on low-income and vulnerable countries.

A commitment was also made to ensure the flow of essential medical supplies and important agricultural products across borders, despite precautionary lockdown measures.

Overcoming obstacles laid out by the pandemic, the Saudi presidency of the G20 demonstrated great ability in advancing the forum's work through holding more than 224 international meetings and conferences.

The world will not forget Saudi Arabia’s presidency of the G20, especially that it carried forth the vision of providing a new impetus to global cooperation around the unifying theme of “Realizing Opportunities of the 21st Century for All”.

At the 2020 G20 Riyadh Summit, more than 50 outcomes were adopted next to over 20 ministerial statements. Such initiative showcases an edge of seriousness in enhancing international cooperation to face global challenges.

Compared to previous years, G20 meetings, which traditionally stand at a total of 85, jumped by some 90%. Recommendations, outcomes, and initiatives also doubled.

G20 leaders, under the Saudi presidency, reiterated unity in their belief that coordinating global actions, solidarity and multilateral cooperation was needed today more than ever to face present challenges.

In their final communique, leaders called for more than just working to recover from the current crisis and urged setting a vision for a "better future" beyond the pandemic.

Under the kingdom’s presidency, the G20 looked to improve protection from pandemics and epidemics in the future by drawing lessons from the current crisis.

Naturally, the Saudi presidency was keen to discuss ways to come up with long-term solutions that address gaps found in global pandemic response schemes. It voiced hope towards completing and enhancing these discussions during the upcoming Italian presidency of the G20.

Advocating a sustainable and secure future, the G20 Riyadh Summit also shed light on the need to prevent environmental degradation, conserve biodiversity, promote sustainable use of natural resources, and enact reform.

Preserving oceans, promoting clean air and clean water, responding to natural disasters and extreme weather events, and tackling climate change were cast among the most pressing challenges of our time.

--Saudi G20 Sherpa Dr. Fahad Bin Abdullah al-Mubarak

Tens of thousands of centuries-old books are being pulled from the shelves of a medieval abbey in Hungary in an effort to save them from a beetle infestation that could wipe out centuries of history.

The 1,000-year-old Pannonhalma Archabbey is a sprawling Benedictine monastery that is one of Hungary's oldest centers of learning and a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Restoration workers are removing about 100,000 handbound books from their shelves and carefully placing them in crates, the start of a disinfection process that aims to kill the tiny beetles burrowed into them, The Associated Press reported.

The drugstore beetle, also known as the bread beetle, is often found among dried foodstuffs like grains, flour and spices. But they also are attracted to the gelatin and starch-based adhesives found in books.

They have been found in a section of the library housing around a quarter of the abbey's 400,000 volumes.

“This is an advanced insect infestation which has been detected in several parts of the library, so the entire collection is classified as infected and must be treated all at the same time,” said Zsófia Edit Hajdu, the chief restorer on the project. “We've never encountered such a degree of infection before.”

The beetle invasion was first detected during a routine library cleaning.

Employees noticed unusual layers of dust on the shelves and then saw that holes had been burrowed into some of the book spines. Upon opening the volumes, burrow holes could be seen in the paper where the beetles chewed through.

The abbey at Pannonhalma was founded in 996, four years before the establishment of the Kingdom of Hungary. Sitting upon a tall hill in northwestern Hungary, the abbey houses the country's oldest collection of books, as well as many of its earliest and most important written records.

For over 1,000 years, the abbey has been among the most prominent religious and cultural sites in Hungary and all of Central Europe, surviving centuries of wars and foreign incursions such as the Ottoman invasion and occupation of Hungary in the 16th century.

Ilona Ásványi, director of the Pannonhalma Archabbey library, said she is “humbled” by the historical and cultural treasures the collection holds whenever she enters.

“It is dizzying to think that there was a library here a thousand years ago, and that we are the keepers of the first book catalogue in Hungary,” she said.

Among the library’s most outstanding works are 19 codices, including a complete Bible from the 13th century. It also houses several hundred manuscripts predating the invention of the printing press in the mid-15th century and tens of thousands of books from the 16th century.

While the oldest and rarest prints and books are stored separately and have not been infected, Ásványi said any damage to the collection represents a blow to cultural, historical and religious heritage.

“When I see a book chewed up by a beetle or infected in any other way, I feel that no matter how many copies are published and how replaceable the book is, a piece of culture has been lost,” she said.

To kill the beetles, the crates of books are being placed into tall, hermetically sealed plastic sacks from which all oxygen is removed. After six weeks in the pure nitrogen environment, the abbey hopes all the beetles will be destroyed.

Before being reshelved, each book will be individually inspected and vacuumed. Any book damaged by the pests will be set aside for later restoration work.

The abbey, which hopes to reopen the library at the beginning of next year, believes the effects of climate change played a role in spurring the beetle infestation as average temperatures rise rapidly in Hungary.

Hajdu, the chief restorer, said higher temperatures have allowed the beetles to undergo several more development cycles annually than they could in cooler weather.

“Higher temperatures are favorable for the life of insects,” she said. “So far we've mostly dealt with mold damage in both depositories and in open collections. But now I think more and more insect infestations will appear due to global warming.”

The library’s director said life in a Benedictine abbey is governed by a set of rules in use for nearly 15 centuries, a code that obliges them to do everything possible to save its vast collection.

“It says in the Rule of Saint Benedict that all the property of the monastery should be considered as of the same value as the sacred vessel of the altar,” Ásványi said. “I feel the responsibility of what this preservation and conservation really means.”

Saudi G20 Presidency: Moving From Recovery Towards a Prosperous Future