The Group of 20 Summit in Rome, 2021, issued a positive sounding Declaration, summarising all key thrust areas.
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- The background: In 1999, in the wake of the 1997 economic crisis, the G7 Finance Ministers announced the creation of the “Group of 20”, aimed at including other countries in their discussions related to global economics and finance. The first official meeting of the G20 was held in Berlin in December that same year. Following the 2008 financial crisis, the United States proposed to increase the level of participation of the G20 to Heads of State and Government. At the 2009 Pittsburgh Summit, the Heads of State and Government decided to institutionalize the G20 as the main forum for global economic and financial cooperation. The G20 Leaders have met every year since 2010.
- What is G20: The G20 is the international forum that brings together the world’s major economies. Its members account for more than 80% of world GDP, 75% of global trade and 60% of the population of the planet. The forum has met every year since 1999 and includes, since 2008, a yearly Summit, with the participation of the respective Heads of State and Government. In addition to the Summit, ministerial meetings, Sherpa meetings (in charge of carrying out negotiations and building consensus among Leaders), working groups and special events are organized throughout the year.
- Members: The G20 members are: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Japan, India, Indonesia, Italy, Mexico, Russia, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the European Union. Spain is also invited as a permanent guest. Each year, the Presidency invites guest countries, which take full part in the G20 exercise. Several international and regional organizations also participate, granting the forum an even broader representation.
- Structure: The G20 does not have a permanent secretariat: its agenda and activities are established by the rotating Presidencies, in cooperation with the membership. A “Troika”, represented by the country that holds the Presidency, its predecessor and its successor, works to ensure continuity within the G20. The Troika countries are currently Saudi Arabia, Italy and Indonesia.
- Within the G20 process, a particular place is reserved for the “Finance Track”, which includes the meetings held among Finance and Economy Ministers, Central Bank Governors, Vice Ministers and Sherpas (negotiators) designated by the respective economic ministries. The Finance Track mainly focuses on economic, financial, monetary and tax issues. The outcome of this process flows into the broader “Communiqué”, traditionally adopted by the G20 Heads of State and Government at the end of the Summit.
- The G20 Alliance for the Empowerment and Progression of Women’s Economic Representation is a special initiative that aims at accelerating women’s leadership and empowerment in the private sector by leveraging its unique alliance among business leaders and governments across the G20 countries. Launched during the 2019 G20 Summit in Japan and established during the 2020 Saudi Presidency, G20 EMPOWER includes 27 Members from G20 and guest countries.
- Hosted by the G20 Italian Presidency, the G20 Innovation League is a unique event dedicated to sharing views and innovative solutions to key global challenges and to fostering international cooperation. The event involved G20 Members and guest countries, relevant institution representatives, as well as innovation ecosystem players such as VC funds, innovative startups, experts and key businesses in each of the focus areas.
- G20 in Rome, 2021: On October 30th and 31st 2021 Rome hosted the G20 Heads of State and Government Summit, with the participation of the G20 Heads of State and Government, of their counterparts from invited countries, and of the representatives of some of the main international and regional organizations. The Summit was the climax of the G20 process and the final stage, at Leaders’ level, of the intense work carried out within Ministerial Meetings, Working Groups and Engagement Groups throughout the year. At the end of two days of working sessions and side events, the G20 Leaders adopted the Rome Declaration. The document is the final outcome of an intense year of negotiations and events organized in the framework of the Italian G20 Presidency.
- Indian approach: PM Modi described the outcome of the G20 Summit here as "fruitful" and said world leaders had elaborate deliberations on issues of global importance such as fighting the pandemic, improving health infrastructure, boosting economic cooperation and furthering innovation. The G-20 leaders during their two-day summit that concluded on Sunday, adopted the 'Rome Declaration' which gives a very strong message under the health section with the countries agreeing that the COVID-19 immunisation is a global public good. India achieved a major success at the Group of 20 Leaders' Summit in Italy as it, along with other developing nations, was able to introduce the language on what actions are required to be taken, especially by the developed countries, to achieve the energy and climate goals, according to people familiar with the development.
- The Rome Declaration: The comprehensive document starts with: "We, the Leaders of the G20, met in Rome on October 30th and 31st, to address today’s most pressing global challenges and to converge upon common efforts to recover better from the COVID-19 crisis and enable sustainable and inclusive growth in our Countries and across the world. As the premier forum for international economic cooperation, we are committed to overcoming the global health and economic crisis stemming from the pandemic, which has affected billions of lives, dramatically hampered progress towards the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals and disrupted global supply chains and international mobility. With this in mind, we express our profound gratitude to the health and care professionals, frontline workers, international organizations and scientific community for their relentless efforts to cope with COVID-19."
- Summary: The G-20 tried to be ambitious on climate goals, but could not offer anything concrete before the start of COP-26 in Glasgow, UK.
- EXAM QUESTIONS: (1) Explain the role that G-20 plays in world politics. It is not a structured forum. How can it be effective? Analyse. (2) The G-20 Rome Summit 2021 could not come to any understanding on environment, in concrte terms. Why not? Explain.
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