G20 Summit 2022: Some Aspects

The 17th annual Group of Twenty (G20) Summit 2022 was held in Bali, Indonesia, between November 15 and 16, 2022. In the summit, leaders across the world discussed about the challenges triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic, and how to deal with the energy and food security impacted by the Russia-Ukraine War. Leaders of various nations also held bilateral summits on the sidelines of the summit.

The summit focused on the theme ‘Recover Together, Recover Stronger’ against the backdrop of geopolitical and economic tensions due to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine War. The summit also discussed other global challenges such as water security, climate and biodiversity, health care and education, digital transformation, among others.

The summit in Bali was attended by leaders of Argentina, Australia, Canada, China, the European Union, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, the UK and the US. The special invitees this year also included leaders of Cambodia, Fiji, the Netherlands, Rwanda, Senegal, Singapore, Spain, Suriname, and the UAE. Besides, heads of several International Agencies, including the UN, the IMF, ASEAN, the African Union also attended the summit.

The Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, had also been invited to address the summit virtually. Though security issues were not supposed to be discussed at this summit, Ukraine kept entering the discussions on food security, supply-chain disruption, economic downturn, and the threat to peace. However, the G20 Statement took the UN resolution route as a direct condemnation was not possible. Russian President, Vladimir Putin, was represented by its foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov.  The leaders of Mexico and Brazil did not attend the summit.

The three-hour-long meeting between President of the US, Joe Biden, and President of China, Xi Jinping, was the most important bilateral at Bali. Indian Prime Minister, Modi also had a brief meeting with Xi Jinping at the dinner on November 15, 2022.

The G20 is the premier forum for international economic cooperation. It has been playing an important role in shaping and strengthening global architecture and governance on all major international economic issues. India assumed the Presidency of the G20 on December 1, 2022 and would convene the 18th G-20 summit for the first time in 2023.

Some Highlights from the G-20 Summit Declaration

Some of the highlights of the Bali Declaration are as follows:

• Referring to the UN General Assembly Resolution No. ES-11/1, dated March 2, 2022, adopted by majority vote (in which 141 voted for, 5 voted against, 35 abstained, and 12 remained absent), the most leaders deplored in the strongest terms the aggression by the Russian Federation against Ukraine and demanded Russia’s complete and unconditional withdrawal from the territory of Ukraine.
• The leaders committed to support developing countries, particularly the least developed and small island developing States, in view of the global challenges and achieving the sustainable development goals (SDGs).
• The leaders committed to taking urgent actions to save lives, prevent hunger and malnutrition, particularly to address the vulnerabilities of developing countries, and called for an accelerated transformation towards sustainable and resilient agriculture and supply chains.
• The leaders stressed their support for open, transparent, inclusive, predictable, and non-discriminatory, agricultural trade based on WTO Rules. They emphasised the importance of enhancing market predictability, minimising distortions, increasing business confidence, and allowing agriculture and food trade to flow smoothly.
• The leaders welcomed the two Istanbul Agreements between Turkey (now Turkiye) and the UN, signed on July 22, 2022 regarding the initiative on the safe transportation of grain and foodstuffs from Ukrainian ports (Black Sea Grain Initiative) and the MoU between the Russian Federation and the Secretariat of the UN on promoting Russian food products and fertilizers to the world markets.
• The leaders committed to supporting the adoption of innovative practices and technologies, including digital innovation in agriculture and food systems in order to enhance productivity and sustainability and to promote farmers’ and fishers’ livelihoods and increase their income, particularly smallholders.
• The leaders stressed the urgency to rapidly transform and diversify energy systems, advance energy security and resilience, and markets stability by increasing and ensuring clean, sustainable, just, affordable, and inclusive energy transitions and flow of sustainable investments. They called for continued support for developing countries, especially in the most vulnerable countries in terms of providing access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy, capacity building, affordable latest technology within the public domain, and financing mitigation actions in the energy sector.
• The leaders reaffirmed their steadfast commitments to tackle climate change by strengthening the full and effective implementation of the Paris Agreement, the Glasgow Climate Pact, the relevant outcomes of previous conference of the parties (COPs). Noting the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) assessments that the impact of climate change will be much lower at a temperature increase of 1.5 °C compared with 2 °C, they resolved to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5 °C.
• They welcomed the progress to date towards achieving a post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), and urged all parties and countries to finalise and adopt the GBF to realise the 2050 Vision of “Living in harmony with Nature”. They committed to strengthen actions to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030 and called on convention on biological diversity (CBD) parties to adopt an ambitious, balanced, practical, effective, robust, and transformative post-2020 GBF at COP-15 in Montreal. They committed to scaling up efforts to combat biodiversity loss, deforestation, desertification, land degradation and drought, as well as to restore degraded land to achieve land degradation neutrality by 2030 and to reduce land degradation by 50 per cent by 2040 on a voluntary basis.
• They committed to promoting a healthy and sustainable recovery which builds towards achieving and sustaining Universal Health Coverage under the SDGs. They reaffirmed their commitment to strengthen global health governance, with the leading and coordination role of WHO and support from other international organisations.
• They welcomed the establishment of the ‘Pandemic Fund’ [a new Financial Intermediary Funds for pandemic PPR (prevention, preparedness, and response)], hosted by the World Bank. They commended the pledges by current donors, amounting to over US$ 1.4 billion, and encouraged additional voluntary pledges, calling on new donors to join the Pandemic Fund as they are able to.
• Acknowledging the adoption of the Ministerial Declaration on the WTO Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic and Preparedness for Future Pandemics and the Ministerial Decision on the TRIPS Agreement at the WTO’s 12th Ministerial Conference (MC12), the leaders noted that WTO members will decide on its extension to cover the production and supply of COVID-19 diagnostics and therapeutics no later than six months from the date of the Ministerial Decision on the TRIPS Agreement. They committed to embedding a multisectoral One Health approach and enhancing global surveillance, including genomic surveillance, to detect pathogens and anti-microbial resistance (AMR) that may threaten human health. They also encouraged sharing of pathogen data in a timely manner on shared and trusted platforms in collaboration with the WHO so that global pathogen surveillance can be made.
• They recognised the importance of policies to create an enabling, inclusive, open, fair, and non-discriminatory digital economy to allow businesses and entrepreneurs to thrive, protect, and empower consumers, while addressing the challenges related to digital divides, privacy, intellectual property rights, data protection, and online safety. They committed to further enable data free flow with trust and promote cross-border data flows so that a more inclusive, human-centric, empowering, and sustainable digital transformation can be possible.
• They supported continued implementation of the G20 Roadmap for Enhancing Cross-Border Payments, including the future delivery of the initial estimates for key performance indicators and 2022 Progress Report that sets out priorities for the next stage of work.
• G20 central banks strongly committed to achieving price stability, in line with their respective mandates. The leaders committed that they would work to strengthen the tax and development agenda in the light of the July 2022 G20 Ministerial Symposium on Tax and Development. They welcomed the Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework and the amendments to the Common Reporting Standard, which are considered to be integral additions to the global standards for automatic exchange of information.

Background of G20

The G20 was founded in 1999, after the Asian financial crisis, as a forum for the finance ministers and central bank governors to discuss global economic and financial issues. Its main goal was to bring together the most significant industrialised and developing nations to discuss global economic and financial stability.

Thereafter, in 2008, the G20 was upgraded to the level of heads of State/government, after the global economic and financial crisis of 2007. Since then, the G20 leaders’ annual meeting has grown into a significant forum for discussing economic issues and other pressing global concerns. In 2009, the group was designated as the premier forum for international economic cooperation.

The G20 Summit is held annually under the leadership of a rotating presidency. It had been initially focusing largely on broad macroeconomic issues. Ever since its expansion, its agenda include trade, climate change, sustainable development, health, agriculture, energy, environment, and anti-corruption, among others.

The group comprises 19 countries—Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkiye, the UK and US—and the EU. The group represents around 85 per cent of the global GDP, over 75 per cent of the global trade, and about 66 per cent of the world population.

The guest countries include Bangladesh, Egypt, Mauritius, the Netherlands, Nigeria, Oman, Singapore, Spain, and the UAE.

Other international organisations (IOs) associated with G20 are—the UN, IMF, WB, WHO, WTO, ILO, Financial Stability Board (FSB), Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Chairs of Regional Organisations, African Union Development Agency-New Partnership for Africa’s Development (AUDA-NEPAD), and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

While hosting G20 Summit in 2023, India intends to invite the International Solar Alliance (ISA), the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI), and the Asian Development Bank (ADB), as guest IOs.

How G20 Works

The presidency of G20 steers the G20 agenda for one year and hosts the summit. It comprises two parallel tracks: the finance track led by the Ministry of Finance and the sherpa track, working groups that meet regularly throughout the term of each presidency to oversee negotiations over the course of the year, and discuss agenda for the summit and coordinate the substantive work of the G20.

The G20 does not have a permanent secretariat. The presidency is supported by the Troika—the previous, current, and the incoming presidency.

India at G20 Summit 2022

India got the presidency of the G20 for the first time in Bali. India has stated that its presidency would be ‘inclusive, ambitious, decisive, and action-oriented’. The G20 bulletin echoed India’s message to the Russian President that ‘today’s era must not be of war’.

India took part in three important sessions on food and energy security, digital transformation, and health.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi referred to the Ukraine crisis primarily in the context of the supply-chain disruptions and the impact on the poor. The prime minister focused mainly on food security, digitisation, and health care. India’s articulation in different sessions helped in enhancing India’s stature as the ‘voice of Global South’.

The agenda for the next G20 2023 summit would be ‘Peace, Harmony and Security’. The motto of the 2023 G20 Summit would be ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’—‘One Earth, One Family, One Future’.

India’s Agenda for G20, 2023

In 2023, India would organise more than 200 meetings across 50 cities involving officials, the civil society, culminating in a marquee meeting in New Delhi in September 2023. Thirty heads of States and government from the G20 nations, and those invited, are expected to participate in the summit. India has also invited the guest nations to participate.

The Think20 (T20), the ideas bank of G20, would engage with the gamut of issues—strategic, economic and structural—that confront all countries.

The activities and deliberations of the T20 have been spread over seven task forces:

1. The task force on ‘Macroeconomics, trade, and livelihoods’ will make recommendations on coordination within the G20 to create coherence in monetary and fiscal policy, trade, investment, and supply chain resilience.
2. The task force on ‘Digital Futures’ would endeavour to build an inclusive digital public infrastructure to ensure affordability and safe access by all.
3. The recommendations of the task force on ‘Lifestyle for Environment (LiFE), Resilience, and Values for Well-being’ could play a pivotal role in arresting the impending climate crisis, and also ensuring room for inclusive growth.
4. ‘Refuelling Growth’ would be the aim of the task force on green transitions. It would recommend pathways for a smooth transition to clean energy without compromising on efforts for global economic revival in a post-pandemic world.
5. The task force on the ‘Global Financial Order’ would examine the potential for realigning the global financial architecture.
6. ‘Accelerating Sustainable Development Goals’ is the focus of another standalone task force which would explore new pathways to deliver on the 2030 Agenda through strengthened and sustainable collaboration.
7. The task force on ‘Reformed Multilateralism’ would seek to create a roadmap for ‘Multilateralism 2.0’. A targeted reform agenda for key multilateral institutions, whether it be the UN or its affiliated frameworks such as the WHO, the WTO, and the ILO, must be undertaken.

G20 Sherpa Track Meeting

The first formal meeting of the sherpa track began in Udaipur, it which India’s sherpa, Amitabh Kant, invoked the theme of ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’ to evolve strategies for green development, fostering climate finance, technological transformation, and digital public infrastructure, and a focus on three Fs (food, fuel, and fertilizers) along with women-led development.

India’s perspective is that it would have a win-win collaboration between developing countries, Global South, and the advanced economies.

The sherpa track would set the agenda for the G20 leaders in September 2023. Topics from 13 working groups would range from energy, trade and investment, development, employment, tourism, agriculture, digital economy, health, education, culture, environment, and anti-corruption, along with points from the two new groups—Disaster, Risk and Resilience Group, and Startup20 Engagement Group—brought to the forefront by India under its presidency.

Future Challenges for India

India would have to face enormous roadblocks. Inclusive, equitable and sustainable growth, women empowerment, digital public infrastructure and tech-enabled development, climate funding, global food security, and energy security are to name a few of India’s G20 goals.

Since India has not invested much in multilateral rule-making institutions like the G20, hosting G20 is both a new challenge and a new beginning. India has made progress in some of the aspects like technology with digital public goods and its governance. However, India would certainly need help and expertise from Indonesia, Brazil, and also from France and Turkey for deep knowledge of the region around Ukraine.

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