The COVID-19 pandemic has once again shown that we need everyone to get involved in a massive effort to keep the world safe. Researchers are working at high speed to understand new viruses, develop treatments and vaccines to curb pandemics and prevent future outbreaks. With COVID-19 new forms of collaboration have emerged for scientists around the world to share results much faster than during any previous outbreaks. With leadership by the G20 and the World Health Organization (WHO), science and other actors crucial for global health have to take a collective and non-discriminative responsibility to support such a form of global governance.