The G20 Leaders’ Summit is scheduled to take place on November 18 and 19 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Nearly a month away from the summit, Putin has denied his presence, amid calls for arrest under International Criminal Court warrant, claiming he intends not to shine away the relevance of the event to tackle pressing global issues.
This year, 19 G20 member countries, representatives of the African Union and the European Union will gather in the 2-day event, aimed at discussing new means to fight hunger, poverty and inequality. These topics were already introduced by president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in his speech at the 79th Opening of the United Nations General Assembly that happened in New York in September 2024, being also in line with the domestic agenda and the Workers Party discourse throughout his three mandates.
“Hunger is not just the result of external factors. It stems, above all, from political choices. The world produces enough food to eradicate it; what is lacking is the creation of conditions for access to food. In 2023 alone, we lifted 24.4 million people out of severe food insecurity” said the Brazilian president back in September. He also announced the creation of the Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty when Brazil took over the G20 presidency.
The summit themed “Building a Just World and a Sustainable Planet”, Brazil has adopted a different approach for this year’s summit. Under the Brazilian G20 presidency, the ‘G20 Social’ promises to increase the participation of civil society and the private sector in G20 activities and decision-making process. The country has also established three new task forces, the Task Force for a Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty, the Bioeconomy Initiative, and the Task Force for the Global Mobilization Against Climate Change, which will emphasize global commitments to sustainability through scaling up adaptation finance and enhancing institutional capacities for climate action, as presented in the recently published Environment and Climate Sustainability Working Group (ECSWG) Ministerial Declaration released on October 3rd, 2024.
As a leader in renewable energy and home to one of the most important natural ecosystems on the planet, Brazil will once more, lead its way on a protagonism in sustainability which has long belonged to the country since the Earth Summit in 1992.
The G20 is an affirmation to Lula’s third mandate as the president of Brazil, and the chance to push for an agenda where the country elevates its international status quo. The G20 presents as an excellent opportunity for Brazil to achieve long-waited goals, but some relevant topics won’t receive the attention deserved.
- Brazil to enhance cooperation with the European Union and accession to OECD
The negotiation of the Mercosur-European Union agreement, which aims to reduce or eliminate tariffs on various goods and services, has been debated for a long 30 years. Alongside concerns regarding increased competition between Latin American countries’ products with the European ones, environmental concerns, especially around deforestation in the Amazon, are some of the reasons for the delay. Uruguay has indicated its willingness to move ahead with an agreement with the EU outside of the Mercosur umbrella, but it is unlikely that Brazil will take a similar approach. Similarly, Brazil’s process of joining the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has faced delays, as the country still needs to align several economic and environment commitments with OECD standards. The G20 is a great opportunity for Brazil to advocate for the Mercosur-EU agreement and pledge to speed up the OECD accession process.
In a recent article published on Council Foreign Relations, the author argues that “Should Brazil become an OECD member, it would be the only country to simultaneously represent the BRICS, the G20, and the OECD.” Though it is farfetched to state that Brazil will lead the Global South in the organization, where Chile, Mexico and Turkey are already members, it will surely give more representation to emerging economies in the organization. However, Brazil’s alignment with Russia, China and other so-called non-aligned states is not well-regarded by Global North countries, hence limiting its role within OECD.
- Enhanced Cooperation between Development Banks and the G20
In April, 2024, the representatives of 10 multilateral development banks shared the Viewpoint Note: MDBs Working as a System for Impact and Scale to establish a series of joint actions for 2024, having as main goal to scale up MDB financing capacity, particularly on climate financing. Some of the expected actions that will be released as the outcome of their G20 work are to support local currency financing, establish ways to strengthen the banks’ financing capacity and implement evaluation improvements through lessons from their previous experiences. The joint actions will also give protagonism to gender diversity, where women will have a prominent position in multilateral financial institutions’ decision-making processes.
- Call for Reforms of Bretton Woods Organizations
As one of the founding members of the United Nations, and a country that has played a key role in the creation of Bretton Woods institutions like the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, president Lula has voiced since 2003 that Brazil deserves greater representation internationally, thanks to contributions in sustainable development, peacekeeping and fight against hunger. Similarly, he called for more inclusive global governance that recognizes the role of emerging economies.
Brazil’s Finance Minister, Fernando Haddad, revealed that Brazil will develop a multilateral development bank roadmap which will contain evidence-based reform suggestions to align investment needs with national development priorities. At the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors’ Meeting held in Washington earlier this year, he confirmed that “Development banks need to intensify their efforts and work together effectively and at scale.”
- Opportunity to enhance talks within the G20 platforms on AI and its responsible use
The United Nations and the OECD have established joint efforts to enhance global cooperation on technology governance, as AI became a dominant topic within their agendas. Both organizations have instituted dedicated permanent platforms, due to the urge to find solutions to job losses and curb potential threats of AI to human life. AI will affect almost 40% of jobs around the world, replacing some and complimenting others, and in developed economies, this number may reach 60%, as data published by the IMF. Artificial Intelligence is missing deserved protagonism at the G20, primarily because the focus of this year’s summit is largely on pressing economic and societal issues.
While there is a common understanding that AI can have both drawbacks and benefits, it can also play a significant role in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). By prioritizing discussions on AI governance as well as the intersection of the economy, society, and the environment, the G20 can foster international cooperation to ensure desired outcomes of AI in local economies, and Brazil could become a leading voice for the Global South.