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“We needed the World Health Assembly to unite behind a People’s Vaccine, not a Trump Administration seeking scapegoats for a pandemic it has mis-handled from the start", said Anna Marriott, Health Policy Manager at Oxfam, commenting at the closure of the World Health Assembly today.  

"The unprecedented global health crisis must be met with a vaccine plan that puts people ahead of the profits of big pharmaceutical companies," said Oxfam ahead of the Coronavirus Global Response Summit on Monday 4 May, which aims to raise $8 billion to develop vaccines, treatments and tests to help end the Covid-19 pandemic.

Oxfam welcomes the fast-track ratification of the Paris climate agreement by the EU. Now, EU governments have to show their practical commitment to protect people and the planet from global warming.

Today the European Parliament  Committee on Budgets voted on the Committee's own initiative report on new own resources to finance the EU budget and EU political priorities.

Today EU Environment Ministers agreed the official EU emissions reductions pledge for the United Nations climate talks in Paris at the end of the year, backing an "at least 40%" emissions reduction target and failing to provide clarity on whether loopholes could water down the offer.

Leaders from Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean will meet next week in Brussels for the first time in almost a decade. 

Today, European energy ministers agreed on a package of emergency measures to curb the surge in energy prices. The package includes two measures to capture extraordinary profits from energy and fossil fuel companies. This follows the European Commission’s proposal on 14 September.   

Suspending debt owed to rich countries is only one piece of the puzzle. Rich private banks and investors should be pushed to cancel debts by enforcement and not left to voluntary action, said Oxfam today in response to the announcement that the G20 has agreed to suspend debt repayment of the poorest countries.

“Moderna’s discovery could be a real game-changer in the fight against COVID-19. However, on its own, Moderna can only produce enough vaccine for less than seven percent of the global population by the end of 2021, almost all of whom will be in rich countries," said Anna Marriott, Oxfam’s Health Policy Manager, in response to the announcement today from the National Institutes of Health that early data shows Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine is nearly 95 percent effective.

Over a decade ago, developed countries committed to mobilize $100bn per year by 2020 to support developing countries to adapt and reduce their emissions. The goal is a critical part of the Paris Agreement. As 2020 draws to a close, Oxfam’s Climate Finance Shadow Report 2020 offers an assessment of progress towards this goal.