Jiang Shixue

Opinion | Here’s how the G20 can be more than a talk shop

While the grouping did a good job of dealing with the 2008 global financial crisis, in recent years, collective action has been sorely lacking

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Brazil’s Economy Minister Fernando Haddad shakes hands with US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen during the G20 economic ministers’ meeting in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on July 26. The G20 summit is scheduled for November 18-19. Photo: AFP

Jiang Shixue

Published: 4:30pm, 13 Nov 2024

In less than a week, global attention might shift from the conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East to Brazil, where G20 leaders will meet.

Originally an informal forum of finance ministers and central bank governors, the platform was upgraded in 2009, in response to the global financial crisis, to a premier cooperation forum for world leaders. There was no codified list of criteria that led to the “Group of 20”, comprising 19 countries, the European Union (EU) and, as of last year, the African Union. These represent about 85 per cent of the global economy.

The first G20 summit was held in 2008 in Washington as leaders worked to prevent the near meltdown of financial systems in advanced economies as a result of the subprime crisis in the United States. Since then, the summit has taken place at least every year, hosted by different members under a rotating presidency.

As the current G20 president, Brazil has set a theme of “building a just world and a sustainable planet” and announced three priorities: fighting hunger, poverty and inequality, pushing for energy transitions and sustainable development, and reforming global governance. These are all lofty objectives. The question is how the G20 hopes to achieve them.

What the international community wishes to see is not simply a joint statement but collective action. But will the G20 continue to behave like a talk shop?

The successful operation of any international organisation requires three elements: effectiveness, efficiency and legitimacy. In the face of criticism, there are five areas the G20 should examine.