It has been an extraordinary year. The once-in-a-century pandemic and the long-awaited defeat of Donald Trump in November’s US presidential election dominated the news cycle in 2020.
Our world was changed by COVID-19 and the news that a number of vaccines have been developed and are already being administered has offered hope that we will be able to return to ‘normality’ some time in 2021.
COVID-19 exposed a level of economic inequality in capitalism, highlighted the folly of ignoring science and pandering to populism, made us more aware of the need to respect our environment and to understand the importance of working together in a multilateral framework.
While the world looks forward to returning to ‘normality’ we simply cannot adopt a ‘business as usual’ attitude once the pandemic is over.
We need a better form of capitalism that protects the most vulnerable, one that gives more importance to a better quality of life rather than simply GDP growth.
The world must also understand that it needs a more balanced approach to the environment, and the fact that air quality improved so much during the pandemic – due to a reduction in economic activity – cannot be overlooked.
There is a also a need to rethink the policy of killing billions of animals every year for food and to adapt much stricter guidelines when it comes to wildlife trade and the protection of habitats. The COVID-19 pandemic, after all, originated in a ‘wet market’ in Wuhan, China.
The world will need to co-operate more not only to prevent future pandemics but also on a whole range of health issues, such as the battle against drug-resistant bacteria, which kills an estimated 700,000 people a year and may kill as many as 10 million a year by 2050, according to the WHO.
The global fight against climate change must be taken more seriously in 2021 and it is encouraging that the incoming Biden administration in the US is preparing to make this an absolute priority. He will find a willing partner in the EU in this area.
Joe Biden’s victory over Trump gives the US a chance to rebuild alliances, to pursue multilateralism and to promote democracy globally. Biden has already stated that the US will rejoin the Iran nuclear pact, the Paris climate deal and the WHO, and this is most welcome.
America and the world have very high expectations of President-elect Biden, who inherits a difficult situation, to put it mildly: a pandemic out of control, massive unemployment, a stagnant economy, a section of the electorate who believes Trump actually won the election and an America whose standing in the world is at rock bottom.
The new president will need all his political skills to unite the country and to work with a hostile Republican Party whose standard bearer is unfortunately still Trump. He will also need to address why so many people voted for Trump, and that includes coming to terms with the fact that many people feel abandoned by globalisation.
Now that Brexit has been completed we hope that Britain will remain an ally and a friend of the European Union, and that the values that the two sides share will be enough for a constructive partnership to emerge that will be a force for good and stability in the world.
2021 will see the departure of Angela Merkel as Germany’s Chancellor. Merkel has made an enormous contribution not only to Germany but also to Europe. She has been the de facto leader of Europe for many years and never shifted away from her solid European values of solidarity, tolerance, social justice and inclusion. We hope her successor follows the same path.