COVID-19 deaths cannot be dismissed as a mere statistic: Saudi energy minister

The coronavirus pandemic will shrink the global economy by 5.2 percent, said Saudi Arabia’s energy minister during a T20 conference on Monday.
“The pandemic poses a sustainability crisis that is interlinked across developmental pillars: Economics, social, energy and environment,” said Prince Abdul Aziz bin Salman, Saudi energy minister and chairman of the King Abdullah Petroleum Studies and Research Center (KAPSARC).
He added: “It is unprecedented in scope and intensity.”
The virtual three-day conference titled “Policy Recommendations for a Post-COVID-19 World” commenced on Monday to address the pandemic and its effects.
The minister praised the T20’s holistic approach in forming the standalone task force for COVID-19.
The prince urged people not to forget the “humanistic elements,” noting that people continue to experience loss of loved ones, and not to dismiss deaths as a statistic on a screen.
He stressed the importance of factoring in humanitarian and health issues.
“We’re not trying to bring you scary stories but really, to put things into perspective, it’s a situation that has not been seen anywhere before,” he said.
The minister said that, while the pandemic is affecting society as a whole, those in poverty, the elderly, youth and minorities are particularly vulnerable.
“These groups tend to disproportionately bear the burden of health risks, unemployment and access to child care,” said the minister, adding that the pandemic has highlighted the acuteness of these issues.
Some of the impact could be reduced by providing accessible and sustainable modern energy, he added.
The prince revealed that the main concern shared during the conference was addressing climate and environmental issues.
“We’re more focused on developing the idea of a circular carbon economy to support emission reductions. We believe … that (we) are going to be at the forefront and aspire to take the lead to demonstrate to the world that all of this can be done using sustainable growth and energy consumption,” he said.

He said the world is witnessing a massive reduction in energy investment, but added that investment will come back in the future “in the form of exploitation of oil and gas, but a good chunk of it is going to come from renewable efficiency programs and mitigation programs, without which we cannot continue providing the energy that this world would need.”
Women and youth empowerment were another major focus of the T20, the minister said.
“It’s dear to me simply because I have a wife, daughter and sister. Empowering women and fostering a youth-inclusive society goes without saying,” he said, adding: “We all aspire for better lives for our children and the children of others too.”
The minister addressed the importance of building and strengthening collaborative international efforts and standing together in solidarity during difficult times.
He advocated the efforts shared with the health minister Dr. Tawfiq Al-Rabiah to overcome shortages in the equipment and masks needed to combat COVID-19.
The health minister said: “We are working closely together to secure some of the supplies we need for the health sector, especially when everyone is competing to get these resources.”
He believes the world needs solidarity and unity to overcome the crisis.
“Our primary responsibility is to ensure that our people are protected from this disease. As an international community, we must reduce loss of life and accelerate efforts to contain the catastrophic impact of the virus,” he said.
The Kingdom’s early implementation of preventive measures has greatly impacted the delay of the COVID-19 peak and reduced its effects, said Al-Rabiah. He has worked closely with relevant parties during the Saudi G20 presidency to identify gaps in global preparation and establish initiatives to improve it.
Dr. Fahad Al-Turki, Saudi T20 chair and vice president of research at KAPSARC, hopes that the world will be ready to move forward after the pandemic.
“G20 countries should continue to lead efforts to enhance pandemic risk management and to improve core emergency response capacities,” he said.
The world, he added, will be in desperate need of multilateral solutions.
“This could be achieved through a green COVID-19 economic stimulus package by fighting economic recession and helping revive energy demand to restore balance and establish economic order,” he said.
Al-Turki stressed the importance of addressing environmental challenges like global biodiversity and climate change because ignoring them will lead to the creation of an environment susceptible to pandemics.
Dr. Khalid Al-Abdulkader, co-chair of the G20 Environment Working Group, introduced initiatives suggested to help the environment.
These include efforts to continue the momentum of Japan’s G20 Summit in 2019, which among other initiatives produced the Osaka Blue Ocean Vision. The project aims to reduce marine plastic litter, restore a billion hectares of degraded land by 2040, and plant 1 trillion trees by 2050.
During one of the conference panels, Dr. Reem Bunyan, a consultant neurologist and the co-chair of the G20 Health Working Group, stressed the importance of investing in resilient health systems, but most importantly investment in mental health care.
“Mental health issues are going to be very important. People are now dealing with a lot of stress in relation to the pandemic itself. Lockdown has its negative effects on mental health and we predict that this is going to be an important area,” she said.
The T20 engagement group brings policy experts from institutions internationally to help world leaders address global problems.
The Kingdom is set to host the G20 Summit in November of this year.