As Brazil hosts G20 leaders, 3 things about the group and Rio summit

The two-day Group of Twenty (G20) summit is beginning on Monday in Rio de Janeiro with leaders of 19 member countries and also from the African Union and the European Union gathering in the Brazilian city. As part of the G20’s rotating presidency, Brazil is hosting the summit over two days — November 18 and 19. The group of the world’s 20 biggest economies — with 85 per cent of the global GDP (gross domestic product) — will discuss the economic, political, social and global challenges the planet is facing today.

What is G20?

The Group of Twenty is a forum for international economic cooperation. It plays an important role in strengthening the international arena, and focuses on global economic issues.  

What all factors led to the Group’s formation? It was founded in 1999 following the Asian financial crisis, as a platform for central bank governors and finance ministers to debate international, financial and economic concerns.  

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After the global economic and financial crisis of 2008, the G20 was elevated to the levels of head of state and was named the “premier forum for international economic cooperation” in 2009.  

In the G20, India proposed that the African Union be granted permanent membership status, a proposal that was unanimously endorsed by all participating countries. As a result, the African Union was approved to join the G20 permanently.

Currently, the Group of Twenty comprises 19 countries — Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Japan, Republic of Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkiye, United Kingdom and United States — and two regional bodies, the European Union and the African Union.

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What is the role of G20?

The G20 countries cover around two-thirds of the world population, over 75 per cent of global trade and 85 per cent of the global GDP.  

Alongside this what does the G20 do exactly? There were different summits starting from the Washington Summit, 2008. Each summit has a different aim and goal. The G20 basically discusses the sector reforms, global climate agreement, financial crisis, global warming, human sufferings, global war, pandemic, and much more, that could be aligned with the countries’ overall development.  

What does the G20 aim to discuss at the Rio summit?

The Rio summit of the G20 is dedicated to “building a fair world and a sustainable planet”. Brazil aims to build its legacy in the foreign affairs and discuss majorly on climate change, sustainable development and world hunger.  

The debates and discussions will include various issues and will also revolve around the current international war and global diplomacies.

Ambassador Mauricio Lyrio defined three main topics of discussion as the official agenda of the Rio summit of the G20 — social inclusion, reform of international institutions, and energy transitions.

The opening ceremony of the summit, on November 18, will feature the launch of the Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty, a Brazilian initiative aimed at mobilising countries and international organisations to accelerate efforts in the fight against hunger and poverty by 2030, according to the official information brochure.  

The Alliance will be one of the main highlights of the event, and according to Lyrio, it already has a significant number of members, which is expected to grow, it says.

“There is a mobilisation of countries to achieve more effective results in the fight against hunger to what has been established as goals of the sustainable development goals,” Lyrio said.

Later in the day, the discussion, restricted to the heads of state, will focus on the global governance reform, a central theme in Brazil’s G20 presidency. The proposal is to discuss how to modernise the main international institutions, such as the United Nations, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and the World Trade Organization, so that they reflect contemporary realities and promote fairer and more efficient governance.  

“Reform of international financial institutions, basically the set of institutions born with Bretton Woods,” Lyrio said.

The final day, November, will focus on energy transitions as the world is facing an unprecedented climate crisis. The G20 countries, which represent the majority of carbon emissions, will discuss strategies to promote a greener and more sustainable global economy.  

Brazil eyes to position itself as a leader on environmental issues in the global agenda and is likely to advocate an approach focusing on local realities and access to clean energy sources.