G20 summit in Brazil: What’s on the agenda, and why it matters
Leaders from the world’s largest economies are gathering in Brazil for the G20 summit that kicked off on Monday.
Chinese President Xi Jinping and United Kingdom Prime Minister Keir Starmer are some of the prominent world leaders expected to attend. Russian President Vladimir Putin will not be attending the gathering in Rio de Janeiro.
What is the G20 summit?
The Group of 20 (G20) is a bloc of 19 of the world’s largest economies and the European Union. The African Union also joined in 2023.The member countries are Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkiye, the UK and US. Spain is part of the G20 as a permanent guest.
The G20 was formed in 1999 in the wake of multiple economic crises, including the 1997 Asian financial crisis. It was formed to discuss policy matters. Since its inception, the group has met every year for an annual summit. In 2023, India hosted the summit while the 2022 summit was held in Indonesia.
When and where is the summit?
The summit will take place on Monday and Tuesday in Brazil’s coastal city of Rio de Janeiro.
Who is attending?
Leaders from the 19 member countries, the EU and African Union are attending the summit.
Outgoing US President Joe Biden will be making his final appearance before leaving office on January 20.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and China’s Xi Jinping arrived in Rio de Janeiro on Monday to attend the summit, according to media reports.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan arrived in Brazil on Sunday afternoon, and had a meeting with Brazil’s leftist president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
For Mexican President Gloria Sheinbaum, this will be her first international summit since taking office in October. Sheinbaum is pushing for initiatives to cut arms spending and boost food self-sufficiency.
On October 18, Putin said he would not attend because his presence would “wreck” the summit with “conversations” likely to revolve around an International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant against him over alleged war crimes in Ukraine. His announcement came after Ukraine urged ICC member Brazil to arrest Putin if he travelled there for the summit, a threat Putin dismissed.
What is on the G20 agenda this year?
Besides broad discussions over macroeconomic developments, experts anticipated that this year’s summit would focus on the eradication of hunger, which is a priority for Brazil, The Associated Press news agency reported.
Brazil is looking to launch a Global Alliance Against Hunger, with social programmes and funding mechanisms aimed at addressing global food shortages and supplies.
