Brazil has set three priorities for its G20 presidency this year by placing the problem of inequality at the centre of the agenda.
Visiting Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira said social inclusion and the fight against hunger and poverty; energy transitions and the promotion of sustainable development in its economic, social, and environmental dimensions; and reform of global governance institutions would be the priorities of Brazil throughout the year.
“Brazil has placed the problem of inequality, in all its dimensions, at the centre of the G20’s agenda,” he said while speaking at the Foreign Service Academy in Dhaka on Monday before concluding his two-day official visit, first by any Brazilian foreign minister in the 52 years of diplomatic relations.
The Group of Twenty (G20) is the premier forum for international economic cooperation. It plays an important role in shaping and strengthening global architecture and governance on all major international economic issues. Brazil holds the Presidency from December 1, 2023 to November 30, 2024.
Argentina, Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, the UK and the US, as well as the European Union, represented by the rotating council presidency and the European Central Bank, are the other members of the G20.
The visiting foreign minister invited Bangladesh to attend several working groups under Brazil’s presidency.
Those include the Environment and Climate Sustainability Working Group; the Empowerment of Women Working Group; and the Task Force for the Launching of the Global Alliance against Poverty and Hunger.
“We are thankful for the substantive contribution that Bangladesh has been providing to G20 discussions,” he said, adding that his presence in Dhaka is a “testimony to the importance we attach to our relations with Bangladesh”.
He said the Alliance against Poverty and Hunger will aim at taking concrete steps to mainstream a set of established domestic public policy instruments, which can include targeted cash transfers, school meal programs, support for family farming, single-registry systems for low-income persons and families, and social security mechanisms. The Alliance will be structured around three main pillars: national commitments pillar, financial pillar and technical support pillar.
G20 Task Force for the Global Mobilization against Climate Change, once again bringing together the Sherpa and the Finance tracks of the group.
“Brazil believes that the G20 should explore the role of economy-wide platforms and a renewed engagement of the financial sector to achieve our common goals under the UNFCCC and its Paris Agreement,” he said.
“The Task Force aims at strengthening the G20’s coordinated response to climate change, particularly by exploring (i) the role of national sustainability transformation plans and economy-wide platforms and (ii) a renewed agenda for the engagement of the financial sector in climate action.”
Brazil will also seek reforms of the global governance institutions: the Bretton Woods institutions; the World Trade Organization; and the United Nations.
In the G20 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting held in Rio de Janeiro last month, Brazil proposed that the group prepare for a meaningful discussion on global governance reform.
To that effect, Brazil has decided to convene a second Foreign Ministers’ Meeting of the G20.
“For the first time in its history, the G20 will meet inside the United Nations Headquarters, in a gathering open to all UN member states, on the sidelines of the high-level week of the next General Assembly on September 26,” he said.
“Brazil would like the second Foreign Ministers Meeting to be an opportunity for the G20 to join with other UN member countries in favor of a “call to action” on behalf of the reform of global governance institutions, with the United Nations at its center,” he said.
