Brazilian mandate begins in December; president called for greater participation of emerging countries in global decisions
The president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (PT) presented this Sunday (September 10, 2023) the guidelines for the Brazilian mandate at the helm of the G20, focusing on combating hunger, environmental issues and reform of global governance institutions. The symbolic transfer of the bloc’s presidency was made at the end of the 18th summit of the bloc’s heads of state and government by the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi. Brazil will only take over the de facto position on December 1st.
In the closing speech of the summit held in New Delhi, the Indian capital, Lula reiterated the Brazilian position of removing the war in Ukraine from the bloc’s main discussions. Without directly mentioning the conflict, the president said that we cannot let “Geopolitical issues hijack the discussion agenda of the various G20 bodies”.
And he added: “We are not interested in a divided G20. Only with joint action can we face the challenges of our days. We need peace and cooperation instead of conflict.”
The European conflict was the main point of disagreement between the bloc’s members. The way the war in Ukraine was to be handled put the release of the final declaration at risk. It would have been unprecedented if the leadership did not publish the text.
Finally, the statement was published condemning the conflict, but without direct mention of Russia. The document rejected territorial invasion and the use of force against the sovereignty or political independence of any State, said that the threat of the use of nuclear weapons is unacceptable and welcomed initiatives for peace in the region.
Condescending to Russia and China, the text said the G20 is not the appropriate forum to resolve geopolitical issues, but emphasized the global economic consequences of the conflict. The argument was defended by Brazil and India.
In his speech, Lula also demanded greater participation from emerging countries in the decisions of the World Bank and the IMF (International Monetary Fund), the revitalization of the WTO (World Trade Organization) and the reform of the UN Security Council (United Nations ).
The president once again defended that the external debt of poor countries needs to be resolved and reviewed by international financial institutions because these nations are unable to pay their debts.
“The international community looks at us with hope, because we bring together economies from emerging countries and developed countries in the G20“, he said.
In his speech, Lula presented the motto that Brazil will adopt for its management at the head of the bloc formed by the world’s largest economies: “Building a Fair World and a Sustainable Planet”.
The president also informed that two task forces will be created: the Global Alliance against Hunger and Poverty and the Global Mobilization against Climate Change.
According to Lula, the Brazilian mandate will have 3 priorities:
- Social inclusion and combating hunger;
- Energy transition and sustainable development in 3 aspects: social, economic and environmental;
- Reform of global governance institutions.
He also stated that the main global problems will only be faced if the world resolves inequalities in income, access to health, education and food, gender and race and representation. “If we want to make a difference, we have to put reducing inequalities at the center of the international agenda. […] We need to redouble our efforts to achieve the goal of ending world hunger by 2030, otherwise we will be facing the biggest multilateral failure in recent years”, he said.
Lula explained that Brazil intends to organize its work around 3 guidelines that include integrating political and financial discussions, listening to society and avoiding geopolitical issues “hijack the discussion agenda” of the various G20 instances.
At the beginning of his speech, Lula expressed solidarity with the Moroccan people through the African Union representative in the bloc. On Friday (September 8, 2023), an earthquake hit the central region of Morocco, killing more than 2,000 people. The president also mentioned the floods in Rio Grande do Sul caused by the passage of an extratropical cyclone. To date, 46 people have died and hundreds are homeless. “This catches our attention because phenomena like this have happened in the most different places on the planet”, he said.
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