The past weekend the G20 summit was held. Although this annual meeting tends not to occupy the headlines for long (if at all), it is an extremely important event. Founded in 1999, the G20 is a forum for ministers from 19 countries and the EU to discuss (and sometimes agree on) measures to secure financial stability and growth in the world. 

It also includes various subcommittees such as  Health, Environment, and Agriculture who meet in the run-up to the annual summit which is hosted on a rotational basis.

Unsurprisingly, this year’s summit was dominated by the global COVID crisis. COVID-19 has had an unprecedented impact on our world – millions of people have suffered from the disease and well over one and a quarter million people have died. Millions have lost their jobs and the economic toll is unquantifiable. In our case, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) estimates that South Africa’s economy will contract by between 5.1 and 7.9 percent in 2020 with the national GDP expected to take five years to recover from the impact of the virus.

At an extraordinary G20 Leaders' Summit held virtually in March 2020, all leaders had already agreed that action had to be taken to improve pandemic prevention and preparedness. In the final declaration issued at this weekend’s summit, the leaders agreed on further extensive measures and steps to deal with the crisis.  

As G20 leaders, they committed “to leading the world in shaping a strong, sustainable, balanced and inclusive post-COVID-19 era”.

They agreed to “mobilise resources to address the immediate financing needs in global health to support the research, development, manufacturing, and distribution of safe and effective COVID-19 diagnostics, therapeutics and vaccines” and to take “immediate and exceptional measures to address the COVID-19 pandemic and its intertwined health, social and economic impacts, including through the implementation of unprecedented fiscal, monetary and financial stability actions…”.

Strong talk which I presume no one would disagree with.

The problem is that as important as these measures are, they do not address the actual cause of the pandemic. These leaders are merely sticking band-aids on an ever growing boil without actually dealing with the underlying infection. Thus, even though we could beat this virus in the next year or two with the vaccine roll-outs, we would almost definitely see other similar future pandemics unless the root cause of them all - whether SARS, Ebola, HIV-Aids, or COVID-19 – is addressed.

G20 leaders agreed to “immediate and exceptional measures to address the COVID-19 pandemic and its intertwined health, social and economic impacts, including through the implementation of unprecedented fiscal, monetary and financial stability actions…”.

It is well established by now that all these dreadful diseases (including COVID-19) jumped from wild animals in captivity to humans.

All over the world, animals are taken from the wild (or bred), transported, and traded. They often live in appalling and unsanitary conditions, causing enormous stress. This makes them susceptible to disease and thus they spread more viruses and bacteria. Food markets selling live wild animals and wild animal products, in particular, are hugely dangerous since animals are crammed together in cages that become hotbeds for deadly diseases.  Whether the trade is legal or illegal, such diseases will be passed on, not just to other animals, but to humans.

As seen recently in Denmark, mutations can also arise. Mutated versions of COVID-19 have been found in mink and humans in Denmark and other countries around the world threatening the efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccines currently in development. 

The irony is that we do not need any of this. The trade in exotic wild animals for food is to satisfy the “delicate” tastes of a small, affluent group of people in the world. (Of course, this group of people are least effected by the economic fall-out by these pandemics.)

In Denmark as well as other European countries and America, minks are bred and slaughtered for their fur – something that can easily be replaced by artificial fibres. Now, because of the mutated COVID-19 virus found in the animals, they have had to slaughter over 17 million minks in Denmark alone.

We are part of this trade, too. South Africa is the third most biodiverse country in the world. We are also the largest exporter of live birds, plants, and mammals among the Southern African nations.  So, we form an integral part of a practice that causes these pandemics.

The world leaders missed a very important opportunity to agree on a global ban on wildlife trade for consumptive (as opposed to conservation) purposes this weekend. In doing so they continue to play roulette with our health and economic futures.

Next year’s summit will be hosted by Italy. More than 1 million people have already signed a petition asking for such a global ban. Let’s hope that for once the leaders of the world (including South Africa) will listen and act in the best interest of the vast majority of people in the world, and not just pander to the economic interest of a very small minority.