World leaders have pledged US$ 8.8 billion for Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, far exceeding the target of US$ 7.4 billion.

The funding will help immunise 300 million more children in lower-income countries against diseases like measles, polio and diphtheria by the end of 2025. It will also support health systems to withstand the impact of coronavirus and maintain the infrastructure necessary to roll out a future COVID-19 vaccine on a global scale.

The pledges were made at the Global Vaccine Summit 2020, hosted by UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Representatives from 52 countries, including 35 Heads leaders from global health organisations, the private sector, vaccine manufacturers and civil society organisations to support the Vaccine Alliance’s work protecting almost half the world’s children against deadly, preventable diseases.

Boris Johnson, UK Prime Minister, said:

Britain has been honoured to host this summit today. You can count on our full contribution as together we rise to fulfil the greatest shared endeavour of our lifetime – the triumph of humanity over disease, now and for the generations that follow.

As we make the choice to unite and forge a path of global co-operation, let us also renew our collective resolve to find the vaccine that can defeat coronavirus.

British High Commissioner to Kenya, Jane Marriott said:

GAVI has been operating for over 20 years having vaccinated over 700 million children across the world and Kenya is one of the top 20 priority countries. I’m proud of the UK’s long history of working with Kenya on vaccines.

If you’re in Kenya and have received a measles, pneuomonia or HPV vaccine, that has been through GAVI with UK support. This work is essential if we are to avoid further disease outbreaks and epidemics which would place additional strain on health systems already weakened by coronavirus.

The UK remains the Vaccine Alliance’s largest donor, pledging the equivalent of £330 million per year over the next five years. Other top donors include the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Norway, Germany and the United States. Eight countries made their first ever pledge to Gavi, including Bhutan, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Finland, Greece, New Zealand, Portugal and Uganda.

As well as supporting the routine vaccination of hundreds of millions of children in lower-income countries from infectious diseases, the new support will also be used to help lower-income countries meet the challenge of the coronavirus pandemic by strengthening health systems and vaccine distribution.

The Global Vaccine Summit also saw the launch of the Advance Market Commitment for COVID-19 Vaccines (COVAX AMC), a new innovative financing instrument to provide access to COVID-19 vaccines for low- and middle-income countries. This is the first building block towards a global mechanism to ensure equitable access to future COVID-19 vaccines.

Notes to editors:

• The summit was attended by Australia, Canada, China, European Commission, Italy, Ireland, Japan, Luxembourg, Monaco, France, Netherlands, Norway, New Zealand, Qatar, Sweden, Switzerland, Spain, Turkey, USA, India, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Portugal, Finland, Iceland, Kuwait, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, UAE, Vietnam, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Central African Republic, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mozambique, Niger, Rwanda, Senegal, Sri Lanka, Somalia, Ghana, Afghanistan, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Uganda, Liberia, Egypt, Jordan, Singapore, Nepal, Sierra Leone, Georgia, Yemen, Myanmar, Cameroon, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Mauritania, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Pakistan, Chad, Mexico, Tanzania, South Africa and Argentina.

• The new AMC builds on the success of the first Advance Market Commitment for Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccines (PCV), which prevent the leading cause of pneumonia. In the 11 years since the AMC’s launch it has helped protect more than 225 million children across 60 low and lower-middle income countries, saving more than 700,000 lives. Current AMC donors Italy, UK, Norway, Canada and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation will be among the sponsors of the new COVAX AMC.

• About Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance: Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance is a public-private partnership that helps vaccinate half the world’s children against some of the world’s deadliest diseases. Since its inception in 2000, Gavi has helped to immunise a whole generation – over 760 million children – and prevented more than 13 million deaths, helping to halve child mortality in 73 developing countries. Gavi also plays a key role in improving global health security by supporting health systems as well as funding global stockpiles for Ebola, cholera, meningitis and yellow fever vaccines. After two decades of progress, Gavi is now focused on protecting the next generation and reaching the unvaccinated children still being left behind, employing innovative finance and the latest technology – from drones to biometrics – to save millions more lives, prevent outbreaks before they can spread and help countries on the road to self-sufficiency. Learn more at www.gavi.org and connect with us on Facebook and Twitter.

The Vaccine Alliance brings together developing country and donor governments, the World Health Organization, UNICEF, the World Bank, the vaccine industry, technical agencies, civil society, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and other private sector partners. View the full list of donor governments and other leading organizations that fund Gavi’s work here.

Thank you Frances, good morning to you and colleagues, and thank you for convening today’s meeting.

First of all, I would like to congratulate Jaime and colleagues for the progress that has already been made in this Initiative. We have got very close to agreement.

COVID-19 has been a challenge for the WTO, as it has been for other multilateral institutions. But COVID-19 makes it even more urgent to make progress on this initiative, and its goal of liberalising global Services trade. Success here will show the relevance of the WTO, and how it can help the world overcome the economic crisis we are now going through. It will also reinforce an open, and predictable global trading system, something that come under further threat during this COVID-19 crisis.

In response to your questions:

The UK priority is that the Initiative should deliver a timely and meaningful outcome, with as much ambition as possible. We are therefore keen to consolidate progress on outstanding issues by the end of this year, and reach a finalised text well before a rescheduled MC12. What a positive message it would send if we could announce an agreement at the special General Council later this year.

To that end, we support finding ways of keeping up the momentum, and getting back to open and fully inclusive negotiations as soon as possible. We look forward to the meeting on the 16th. In addition, now that the Swiss authorities are permitting physical meetings, of up to 300 people, from tomorrow, we think it should be possible for the WTO to support resuming physical meetings soon in line with Swiss health guidance. We think the Initiative should seek to take advantage of these developments, if colleagues here are ready and agree to this step, and hold hybrid physical meetings before the summer.

The United Kingdom will continue to do all it can do ensure that this Initiative reaches a successful conclusion.

Thank you Frances.

The survey, carried out in collaboration with the University of Hull and run by final-year geography student Rosie Jaques, showed our two sites support a total of 31 different bird species.

Our Woolley and Strafford mine water treatment schemes, in Barnsley, were chosen due to their diverse landscapes, which include reed beds that act like large filters in the final stage of our treatment process to remove iron from mine water before it is discharged into rivers.

Some of the species we found have populations that are declining or have been found in fewer areas nationally over recent years and appear on the red and amber lists of Birds of Conservation Concern.

The birds use all the different habitats that are present, such as the lagoons, and while it is smaller, the Strafford site has a significantly higher bird density.

This could be due to having more habitats in a smaller space, which are not only better-connected, but also form a mosaic rather than discrete blocks.

Rosie recorded 4 red-listed species of birds, including grey wagtails, linnets, house sparrows and yellow hammers.

In addition, there were 8 amber-listed species, including black headed gulls, house martins, kestrels, kingfishers, mallards, reed buntings, swifts and willow warblers.

Abby Moorhouse, Senior Geochemist with the Coal Authority, said:

It is so gratifying to see that our reed beds, which do an excellent job removing iron from mine waters, provide further benefits for the environment by creating habitats for other wildlife.

We value the work carried out by the university, which has increased our understanding of the biodiversity at our sites.

This will enable us to identify various actions to aid the management of specific habitats and help improve our sites for the benefit of all, while ensuring these systems continue to fulfil their key function to treat mine waters.

While the survey sheds light on how our sites are currently used by wildlife, it also serves as a road map for the future.

The results suggest that having a greater variety of habitats within a site such as open water, marginal plants and reed beds, will encourage a greater diversity of observed species.

Dr Will Mayes, Reader in Environmental Science at the University of Hull, said:

We’ve known about the water quality benefits of the Coal Authority treatment systems for a number of years now, and it’s revealing to see the additional benefits these systems can provide to wildlife.

Rosie did a great job undertaking the surveys, and it’s very rewarding to see the work of our students feeding into real-world efforts for biodiversity improvements.

Richard Carline, the Coal Authority’s Ecological and Environmental Manager, said:

We are working on a review of our sites to see how we can manage them differently to encourage biodiversity. This will be measured using the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs’ new biodiversity metric.

Both the study and our biodiversity improvement work contribute towards our duty as a public body to support thriving ecosystems whilst minimising habitat disruption. This will enable us to make a positive contribution to national strategies to secure and enhance the UK’s biodiversity.