The recent G-20 summit in Rio de Janeiro aimed to tackle global hunger, poverty, and promote climate justice
Brazil’s summit was the third G-20 hosted by a Global South country, following Indonesia in 2022 and India in 2023.
The next summit will be in South Africa.
Brazilian President Lula Da Silva called poverty a "scourge" and proposed a 2% wealth tax on the super-rich to generate over $200 billion for poverty alleviation.
The G-20 declaration did not adopt the wealth tax proposal and lacked specific actions to address global poverty.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi stressed that the Global South faces the most severe impacts of global issues and that global governance should reflect the majority of the world’s population.
The summit’s focus on solutions for emerging economies was diluted by other pressing global issues, including the Israel-Gaza conflict and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The G-20 declaration expressed "deep concern" about the humanitarian situation in Gaza but did not address the conflicts directly or propose solutions.
The G-20 summit was closely timed with COP29 in Azerbaijan, with expectations that climate financing and justice issues would be addressed and feed into the COP process.
The timing of the U.S. presidential election raised concerns about the U.S.'s commitment to tackling climate change, especially under Donald Trump’s climate-denying policies.
The Global South, along with the quartet of Indonesia, India, Brazil, and South Africa, must ensure future G-20 summits address poverty, hunger, climate change, and global governance.
The next G-20 in 2026, hosted by the U.S., will have a more urgent deadline for addressing these global challenges.
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