The leaders of the world's twenty major economies gathered in Italy's Rome on Saturday for a two-day summit centred on the issues of climate change, Covid-19 and economic recovery.
What is G20?
The G20 is an international forum that brings together the world's 20 leading industrialised and emerging economies including India.
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.
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.
How the G20 works?
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.
What is the current Rome summit about?
The activity of the Italian Presidency has been based on three interconnected pillars of action – People, Planet and Prosperity
The agenda included the biggest issues facing the global community, including the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, a major tax agreement, and steps to address concerns regarding global economic growth and stability.
At the end of two days of working sessions and side events, the G20 Leaders adopted the Rome Declaration.
Health - To mitigate the pandemic, the focus was on vaccine production and distribution.
The members assures support to WHO’s target of inoculating 40% or more of the global population against COVID-19 by 2021, and at least 70% by mid-2022.
The G20 leaders were committed to boost the supply of vaccines in developing countries to overcome supply and financing constraint.
Climate Change - The Group leaders recommitted their nations to providing $100 billion a year toward adaptation, mitigation, and green technologies, focusing on the needs of developing countries.
Leaders for the first time acknowledged the use of carbon pricing mechanisms and incentives” as a possible tool against climate change.
Global finance -The G20 leadership agreed to impose multinationals with a minimum 15% tax to create a more stable and fairer international tax system.
This OECD-led reform enjoys the support of 136 countries, which account for more than 90% of global GDP, and is likely to enter into force in 2023 or after.
Nations such as the U.S. are divided as it would impact the tech titans of Silicon Valleyon and it might face implementation delays.
Global economy – Rising inflation, increased energy prices, and supply chain bottlenecks are affecting the world economy which is still reeling from Covid-related disruptions.
G20 leaders ensured not to withdraw the national support measures.
They also pledged to remain vigilant to the global challenges such as disruptions in supply chains.
Development aid - Leaders set a new target of channelling $100bn towards poorest nations, coming from the $650bn pot made available by IMF.
The timely, effective and coordinated action across major nations will be a ray of hope for global recovery.
