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💥 Take Quick Action! Opportunities to create impact with a quick action are marked with a 💥 throughout the Playbook!
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The Intergovernmental Negotiation Body (INB) concluded the initial two weeks of its twelfth meeting (Nov. 4-15) and will resume for a continued session on Dec. 2-6, focused on the stickiest points. Negotiators will try to make the most of the available time with potential evening sessions on the agenda. What has happened so far during INB12 and what’s next for the pandemic agreement process?
- “Substantive progress.” By the time INB12 suspended, more of the draft agreement was “greened,” reflecting signs of “substantive progress,” but not enough to call a special session before year’s end. Not pushing harder for agreement could have political costs, as leadership in countries — including the U.S. — change. “One bad apple can spoil the lot,” as Nina Schwalbe warned. Areas of progress included Article 4 on pandemic prevention, Article 9 on R&D, Article 10 on local production of health products, Article 11 on tech transfer, and Article 20 on sustainable financing.
- Stickiest points remain with an elephant in the room. Still, the stickiest points — pandemic prevention, One Health, PABS, technology transfer, global supply chain and logistic systems, and sustainable financing — remain unresolved, with more progress needed to operationalize equity. This leaves a lot to iron out against a backdrop of political shifts, making the process even more challenging.💥 ICYMI! Catch PAN’s last recaps from the Geneva negotiations — Day 9 and Day 10.
- Year-end goals. With continued negotiations and a stocktake slated for early December, there is an effort to reach consensus on the remaining “crucial and delicate” issues. Stakeholders and advocates continue to underscore the importance of finalizing the agreement while pushing for increased access and transparency to bolster public trust. 💥 Mark your calendars! PAN continues to push for urgency and will be back to resume INB12 coverage.
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G20 ambitions — from Brazil to South Africa. The G20 Leaders’ Summit (Nov. 18-19) wrapped in Rio de Janeiro, with the Brazilian presidency moving the global needle on climate change, poverty reduction, taxation, and governance reforms as laid out in the culminating declaration. While the declaration includes the customary warm words and general commitments, here are our key takeaways:
- Driving climate ambitions. Before the Leaders’ Summit, The Elders’ Graça Machel and Ellen Johnson Sirleaf called on Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to meet the moment and “cement his status as a global climate leader.” He delivered by pushing a more ambitious climate goal, calling on the G20 countries to accelerate their net zero goals by decades and urging taxation of the world’s wealthiest. The Leaders’ Statement also urged COP29 negotiators to successfully deliver climate finance outcomes and affirmed commitments to “just and inclusive” energy transitions among others.
- Bigger, better, more effective MDBs. The G20 laid out a roadmap of recommendations and actions for multilateral development bank reform with the G20 Roadmap Towards Better, Bigger and More Effective MDBs. Central to the reforms are increasing financing, improving the institutions, and boosting effectiveness as well as gender inclusion. With South Africa taking on G20 leadership next year, there is a clear agenda forward and timeline for implementation of the roadmap: 26 of the actions should be implemented within three years and the rest within six years.
- Notable pledges and launches. The Summit set the stage for major pledges and launches by kicking off with the Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty, a matchmaking mechanism connecting countries with the technical, financial, and strategic support to end hunger. G20 members also stepped up with IDA21 pledge announcements, from the U.S.’ record US$4 billion to Norway’s 50% and South Korea’s 45% contribution increases, respectively. Finally, WHO’s first ever Investment Round resulted in pledges from Australia, Indonesia, and Spain, increasing WHO’s funding to US$3.8 billion for 2025-2028. These pledges push WHO just over its expected halfway goal of the US$7.1 billion needed, a “significant step towards sustainable and predictable funding for WHO” as Rafael García and Christoph Benn note.
COP29’s final stretch. The clock is ticking on this year’s climate negotiations in Baku, and while it is still too soon to know the key results, here’s what is standing out:
- From Baku to Rio and back again. Closing his G20 presidency, Brazilian President Lula da Silva urged G20 leaders to move faster to reach climate neutrality by 2040 or 2045, instead of 2050 (see above). UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ closing message to G20 leaders was frank, “The success of COP29 is largely in your hands.” As yet another reminder of the urgency, India’s capital marked air pollution levels at 50 times the safe limit, shuttering schools and halting many non-essential activities.
- Will the “finance COP” deliver? Negotiations on a New Collective Quantified Goal on Climate Finance (NCQG) continue, but according to reports, they are still far from resolution. In short, HICs want more countries to contribute, and LMICs want an overall commitment of US$1 trillion plus with assurances for vulnerable nations and adaptation subgoal inclusions. As the COP deadline looms, there is a lot of ground to cover to get to a deal. The latest text failed to even include numbers, but opted for “only an ‘X’ where numbers should have been.”
- A permanent spot for health. The health calls for action are plentiful, and among the wins, this week’s letter of intent to establish the Baku COP Presidencies Continuity Coalition for Climate and Health. The agreement committed COP presidencies to ensure health is a central agenda item at future UN climate summits, stopping short of making health a formal topic in UN climate negotiations.
- Announcements, reports, and more.
U.S. election ripple effects continue. U.S. President-elect Trump’s picks for his leadership team — including the nominations of Senator Marco Rubio for Secretary of State and Robert F. Kennedy (RFK) Jr. for Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary — continue to send signals of potential changes to U.S. engagement in global health and development. Confirming RFK Jr. (which is not a given) would put a prominent vaccine skeptic in charge of the U.S. CDC, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) — the world’s largest public funder of medical research. Here’s a snapshot of the political transition’s potential implications from across our network and beyond:
Boosting AMR action. The 4th Global High-Level Ministerial Conference on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) (Nov. 15-16) resulted in the Jeddah Commitments. The Commitments build on September’s UN High-Level Meeting Political Declaration on AMR and set out next steps for action through multisectoral partnerships. An AMR ‘One Health’ Learning Hub and a Saudi Arabia-based regional Antimicrobial Access and Logistics Hub were also launched during the conference to strengthen collaboration and access to medicines and diagnostics. 💥 Take immediate AMR action by:
Mpox — not slowing down. While some countries continue to report no new cases, mpox continues to spread throughout the continent as we near the 100-day mark since WHO’s designation of the outbreak as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC). Notably, Uganda is experiencing a rise in cases, which have surged over 200% in the past six weeks. 💥 Get the latest figures, insights, and actions in the PAN Mpox Insights & Actions: Making Sense of Mpox Trackers’ Nov. 19 update. Outside of Africa, the U.S. confirmed its first mpox clade I case in California on Nov. 15. The patient had recently traveled from East Africa and is showing signs of improvement while isolating at home. Separately, WHO granted Emergency Use Listing of the KM Biologics LC16m8 mpox vaccine on Nov. 19 — an especially welcome announcement given Japan pledged to donate over 3 million doses, the largest donation to the response. Reminder: WHO will convene an Emergency Committee meeting on Nov. 22 (tomorrow) to assess the mpox outbreak’s PHEIC status.
H5N1: Odds are not in our favor.
- Situation report. Oregon state confirmed its first human H5N1 case on Nov. 15. The case is reportedly connected to an H5N1 outbreak in poultry. California confirmed more human cases — all related to dairy cattle — bringing the national total to 53 as of Nov. 19. The state also reported a presumptive H5 case in a child with no known infected animal contact on Nov. 19 and submitted tests to the CDC for confirmation. Separately, Hawaii confirmed H5N1 in a backyard flock of birds on Nov. 15, which was linked to a local pet fair and later detected via wastewater surveillance. Meanwhile, avian flu continues to spread in U.S. dairy cattle herds, especially in California; nationally-affected herds total 550 in 15 states as of Nov. 19.
- Worrying mutations. The U.S. CDC’s genetic sequencing of Washington state and Californian human cases found different changes in the “N” part of the virus that “may slightly reduce susceptibility” to antiviral drugs. The CDC added that the mutation is not spreading in H5 viruses and unlikely to affect Tamiflu benefits. However, early sequencing of the Canadian human case — who remains in critical care unlike the other milder cases — is showing signs of mutations that would make it easier to infect people and appears to be related to genotypes found in wild birds.
- Gambling with inaction. The U.S. H5N1 response continues to roll out slowly. California began dipping into state and federal PPE stockpiles to protect 10,000 farm workers, while the CDC rolled out a pilot H5N1 testing program. Still, much more must be done — including vaccinating high-risk farm workers and boosting community awareness and engagement — to safeguard human and animal health, the economy, and food supply. As South Africa’s Dr. Tulio de Oliveira warns in his New York Times opinion, the U.S. is dangerously gambling with H5N1’s global consequences by failing to control the outbreak. He calls out, “Beyond the risks to its own citizens , the U.S. should remember that the country where a pandemic emerges can be accused of not doing enough to control it.”
Bright spot — Marburg countdown optimism. Rwanda’s Nov. 15 weekly update shared that the country was 14 days without a new Marburg case in the 42-day countdown. The treatment center is now closed, although routine surveillance and recovered case follow-up continues.
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PAN and RANA’s Aggrey Aluso emphasized CSOs’ critical role in co-creating a thriving and sustainable local medical countermeasures manufacturing environment at the WHO and Medicines Patent Pool’s mRNA Technology Transfer Programme meeting in Cape Town.
TODAY! 💥 U.S.-based global health organizations and advocates are invited to sign on by EOD to Global Health Council’s letters to Congress urging robust FY2025 global health and development appropriations.
A new Pew Research Center survey looks at the U.S.’ public image of scientists and their role in policymaking. The survey finds trust in scientists trending up, but it remains lower than before the COVID pandemic.
Over 110 organizations have called on the U.S. Congress to reauthorize the temporarily-extended Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act (PAHPA) by the end of 2024.
What we’re reading and listening to:
From CEPI:
Africa CDC’s Kofi Annan Global Health Leadership Programme is accepting applications for the fifth cohort. Fellowship applications are due Dec. 30.
GHTC’s latest Research Roundup covers malaria, H5N1, and tuberculosis R&D updates.
Jhpiego is hiring for a variety of positions from midwives specialists to epidemic surveillance officers around the globe.
The Nuclear Threat Initiative is hiring a senior director/vice president of government relations.
The Africa-Europe Foundation is hiring a policy research assistant and a programme operations assistant for paid six-month internships. Apply by Nov. 24.
STOPAIDS UK is hiring for three different positions. Apply by Dec. 2.
Have something to share with the Network? We accept communications, policy, and advocacy opportunities on a rolling basis.
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