ABOUT

The G20 is the international forum that brings together the world’s major economies. 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.In addition to the Summit, 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.

People- Planet- Prosperity

ABOUT THE G20

The G20 is the international forum that brings together the world’s major economies. 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.

In addition to the Summit, 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.

TOPICS

Priorities

The world is facing many difficult challenges today, which the G20 is intensely working to address, by identifying – and implementing – shared, coordinated and equitable responses. This requires vision, dialogue, mutual understanding, and a profound awareness of our common global responsibilities.

The pandemic has had profound impacts on the health of humans worldwide. It has affected peoples’ livelihoods, our economies, international trade. It has added its burden onto other systemic problems, from climate change to inequality, which are hampering our ability to fully prosper and express our potential. It has also made one thing clear: we live in an era in which local problems swiftly become global challenges. This, however, also means that we can work together to recover from this crisis and seize the opportunity to build back better, learning from our shared experience and ensuring that efficient, innovative tools and technologies become the basis for a more resilient, sustainable and greener growth.

In an increasingly interconnected world, multilateralism is far more than an abstract concept. It is the key to responding to these challenges, and the G20, bringing together much of the world’s population and of the global economy, must live up to its role. This is why the 2021 G20, under Italian Presidency, will focus on three broad, interconnected pillars of action: People, Planet, Prosperity.

Within these pillars, we are taking the lead in ensuring a swift international response to the pandemic – able to provide equitable, worldwide access to diagnostics, therapeutics and vaccines – while building up resilience to future health-related shocks.

We are also looking beyond the crisis, towards ensuring a rapid recovery that addresses people’s needs. This implies a focus on reducing inequalities, on women’s empowerment, on the younger generations and on protecting the most vulnerable. It means promoting the creation of new jobs, social protection and food security.

The G20 is also intent on paving the way to rebuilding differently in the aftermath of the crisis. More efficiently, through a better use of renewable energies and with a firm commitment to protecting our climate and our common environment.

This is a prerequisite for our sustained prosperity. A prosperous future, however, also requires that we properly harness the main drivers of growth and innovation. We are working to bridge the digital divide and make digitalization an opportunity for all, improve productivity and – in short – to leave no one behind.

People

The unprecedented health, economic and social crisis due to the Covid-19 pandemic is severely affecting people all over the world, threatening their lives, jobs and social relationships. Future expectations are deteriorating, above all for younger generations.

Faced with this scenario, the G20 must lead the change towards a better and brighter future for the entire global society.

This means tackling the health and economic crisis in the short run but also looking beyond, and shaping a sustainable, just, inclusive and resilient recovery. To achieve this ambitious goal, our policy actions must be centered around people, both at national and multilateral level. This means eradicating poverty, as mandated by the first Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) of the United Nations. It also means tackling inequality, which has been rising over the past decades, and even further during the present crisis. Building a more inclusive global society implies protecting the most vulnerable, above all young people, precarious workers, small and medium enterprises; promoting women’s empowerment; ensuring universal access to education; redistributing opportunities within countries and decreasing disparities between regions. https://www.g20.org/en/people.html

Planet

As humanity expands its reach across the planet, harnessing its resources and striving to improve the livelihoods of billions of people worldwide, the urgency of ensuring the sustainability of our presence here is rapidly increasing.

Profound challenges need to be addressed, and the G20 has a great responsibility in leading the world towards concrete and lasting solutions. This entails a firm commitment to providing responses to key issues such as climate change, land degradation, biodiversity loss and the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals enshrined in Agenda 2030. These are issues that have been on the G20 agenda for a long time and on which we now need to act quickly, and with new levels of ambition, if we are to be successful.

A transition towards renewable energies and a green recovery, with a focus on modern, “smart” cities, is essential, and is among the main priorities promoted by the Italian Presidency. We are working on new tools for sustainable urbanization, on energy efficiency, on improved, modern mobility. The G20 will also pave the way towards the 26th Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP26), a key milestone in the global fight against climate change, which will be co-hosted by Italy and the United Kingdom.

Addressing the needs of the planet is not an option, nor a balancing act between human flourishing and preserving our natural environment. It is a necessary condition to our common well-being, to international peace and security and, ultimately, to our long-term survival on this “pale blue dot”. https://www.g20.org/en/planet.html

Prosperity

The planet is facing the worst economic crisis of the last century. The 20 most important economies in the world are called to work together to reignite growth and foster a renewed prosperity.

The digital revolution represents a fundamental tool to achieve prosperity and better quality of life. For too long, however, digitalization has also been a driver of precariousness and inequality. The international community, spurred by the G20, needs to make digitalization an opportunity for all.

This means reducing the digital divide, promoting infrastructural developments able to guarantee universal internet access and achieving adequate and widespread digital literacy.

It also means exploiting the full potential of the technological revolution to concretely improve the living conditions of citizens all over the world, in every aspect of their lives.

This implies: making health services more effective; facilitate data sharing to strengthen global pandemic preparedness and response; enhancing smart, agile and flexible working models, which may contribute to better redistribute unpaid care work between genders and promote a better work-life balance for both men and women; improve the efficiency of energy distribution networks and grids and enhance the reach of educational activities.

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