G20 leaders met in Rio de Janeiro on Monday at a forum for talks on climate change, the ongoing wars in Ukraine, Gaza and Lebanon and other issues, highlighting differences among world powers but also yielding some breakthroughs.
Here are five key findings from the summit:
no climate change
Expectations were high that G20 leaders would immediately restart stalled UN climate talks being held in Azerbaijan.
However, in their final announcement, they only recognized the need to “increase climate finance from billions to trillions from all sources”.
The important thing is that he did not tell who would give the trillions of rupees.
He also did not reiterate the commitment he made at last year’s COP28 climate talks in Dubai to a “fair, orderly and equitable transition” away from fossil fuels.
“They haven’t stepped up to the challenge,” said Mick Sheldrick, co-founder of the Global Citizen campaign group.
ukraine war
The war in Ukraine dominated the discussion at the G20, a day after the United States gave Kiev the green light to attack Russian territory with American-supplied long-range missiles.
Russia vowed to “respond” if attacked.
Chinese President Xi Jinping, who along with Brazil is pushing Kiev to enter peace talks with Russia, urged the G20 to help “defuse” the war.
In their final statement, G20 leaders said they welcomed “all relevant and constructive initiatives supporting a comprehensive, just and sustainable peace” in Ukraine.
Like last year’s G20 summit, while condemning “the threat or use of force to further territorial acquisitions”, they made no mention of Russian aggression.
Lebanon, Gaza call for ceasefire
Leaders of the G20 – which combines staunch Israel allies like the United States and Argentina with countries like Turkey that are more supportive of the Palestinians – called for a “comprehensive” ceasefire in both Gaza and Lebanon.
He said the Gaza ceasefire should be in line with the US-proposed UN resolution that calls for a permanent ceasefire in the region in exchange for the release of all hostages by Hamas.
It also called for a Lebanon ceasefire “that enables civilians to return safely to their homes on both sides of the Blue Line” that separates the Lebanese and Israeli armed forces.
tax the super rich
The G20 endorsed the idea of cooperating to ensure that “ultra-high-net-worth individuals are effectively taxed”, giving host Brazil President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva a win at the summit.
However it added that such cooperation should take place “with full respect for tax sovereignty” and should include “debate around tax principles” as well as anti-tax avoidance mechanisms.
Gabriel Zucman, an economist specializing in inequalities who was selected by the Brazilian G20 Presidency to write a report on the issue, praised the “landmark decision”.
coalition against hunger
One of President Lula’s pet issues was creating a global coalition against hunger, and he had initial success by launching that initiative at the beginning of the summit, which was signed by 82 countries.
The purpose of the Coalition is to unify international efforts to provide financing in the campaign against hunger and to replicate programs that have proven successful in some countries.
The goal is to reach half a billion people by the end of the decade, creating what Lula – who grew up in poverty – has called a preventable “crisis that shames humanity.”
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
