LONDON — As the world grapples with the COVID-19 pandemic and nationwide lockdowns are accompanied by an unseasonably warm spring, the international nature of the challenges facing humanity could scarcely be more stark.
Appropriately, then, the pandemic has coincided with a comeback into the public domain of a concept that first gained prominence in the ‘90s — that of “global public goods.”
The phrase has been prominent at recent global development forums. During the European Commission’s COVID-19 pledging summit, it was used repeatedly by world leaders to insist on equitable access for any future coronavirus vaccine developed with their funding. At the launch of the World Health Organization’s Access to COVID-19 Tools, or ACT, Accelerator on April 24, U.N. chief António Guterres used the phrase four times in less than five minutes. And it was a common refrain at this week’s World Health Assembly.