G-20 Sherpa meet: A presidency with a show of culture and clear-cut agenda
- As the first set of discussions under the Sherpa track of the G20 Summit concluded recently, and with the Finance track set to begin soon, India has set the stage for its year-long G20 Presidency.
- The conscious stance has been taken towards the “unheard voices” of the Global South to ensure discussions on inclusive growth amid economic concerns of rising debt, runaway inflation and slowdown.
Sherpa Meet
- Saw many informal engagements: with Sherpas of emerging economies
- Formal discussions: focused on key global issues of:
- inclusive growth
- multilateralism
- women-led development
- 3Fs (Food, Fuel, and Fertilizer)
- tourism and culture
- technological transformation
- green development
- digital public infrastructure
- climate finance
- sustainability
- energy transition
G20 President: Significance for India
- Setting our own agenda first time since independence:
- India can display its own narrative about the remarkable work on health, vaccines, pharmacy, digital public infrastructure.
- Move towards a more inclusive world order
- Shift of presidencies between the troika — Indonesia, India and Brazil — is seen as a move towards a more inclusive world order.
History of G20
- An intergovernmental forum comprising 19 countries (Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Türkiye, United Kingdom and the United States) and the European Union.
- Represents around 85% of the global GDP, over 75% of global trade, and about two-thirds of the world population.
- Founded in 1999 after the Asian financial crisis, as a forum for Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors to discuss global economic and financial issues
- Upgraded to the level of Heads of State/Government in the wake of the global economic and financial crisis of 2007
- 2009: designated the “premier forum for international economic cooperation”.
- G20 Summit is held annually: under the leadership of a rotating presidency.
- Initially focused largely on broad macroeconomic issues,
- Later expanded to include trade, climate change, sustainable development, health, agriculture, energy, environment, climate change and anti-corruption.
- 2 parallel tracks:
- Finance track: led by Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors
- Sherpa track: oversees negotiations over the course of the year, discussing agenda items for the Summit.
- 13 working groups
Aim of this year’s presidency
- Trade and investment
- focus on resilient global value chains
- integrating small and medium industries and global trade and trade for growth and prosperity.
- Development
- Discussion on data for development, accelerating progress on sustainable development goals, lifestyle for the environment.
- Financing
- Addressing the global skills gap, sustainable financing for social security, gig and platform economy and social security
- Tourism
- Discussion on green tourism, digitisation for transforming tourism, skills for tourism.
- Agriculture
- Enhancing food scrutiny and nutrition, sustainable agriculture with a climate-smart approach, tech and digitisation for agriculture.
- Digital economy
- Focus on digital public infrastructure, public digital platforms and cybersecurity and cyber safety.
- Health
- Prevention, preparedness, and response for health emergencies, digital health for universal access and improved service delivery and strengthening cooperation for vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics.
- Energy
- Low-cost finance for energy transition, bio-energy cooperation, the principles of green hydrogen