In 2020 and beyond, the Group of Twenty (G20) must invigorate its implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and respond to the COVID-19 crisis. Both challenges are global in nature and require a universal, integrated, and transformative response. Thus, the G20 should: (1) reorient its political agenda following the 2019 Global Sustainable Development Report’s proposal of six entry points for transformation, and focus on the “economy and finance” and “science and technology” levers; (2) reshape its working structures accordingly; (3) act collectively toward a science-based direction for sustainable development; and (4) ensure that the response and recovery measures regarding the COVID-19 crisis follow the spirit of the 2030 Agenda, and are conducive to achieving its sustainable development goals.

Countries have introduced significant measures to contain the coronavirus pandemic that has severely damaged the tourism economy. The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) estimates a potential decline of 60 – 80% in the international tourism economy in 2020, depending on the duration of the crisis. Countries are moving beyond immediate, often economy-wide, support measures to develop specific recovery measures for the tourism sector, including lifting travel restrictions, restoring traveler confidence, and rethinking the future of the tourism sector.

Causing substantial declines in output and living standards, the COVID-19 pandemic is having devastating effects on economies and societies. Governments reacted swiftly at the onset of the crisis to enhance public health care capabilities and help workers and firms withstand the shocks and adverse economic effects of confinement. The health emergency now appears to be easing, and confinement measures are gradually being scaled back. This policy brief identifies the main areas where policy support will be needed in the near term to buttress the recovery and address the likely longer-term scars from the crisis arising from business failures and hysteresis in labor markets.

COVID-19 has disrupted life. With every G20 nation having experienced stay-at-home orders, citizens are relying heavily on digital technology to live, work, learn, access information, and connect with each other. Previous patterns of proximity are unlikely to return, and virtual communications will increasingly become a permanent fixture of life. But as reliance on technology intensifies, so does the opportunity for threat actors to carry out cybercrimes or distribute disinformation to the detriment of personal or civic life. This is distinct from cyber warfare or data harvesting. The G20 should generate international protocols to help protect citizens from such malicious activities.