Er P L Khushu
The G20 or Group of Twenty is an intergovernmental forum comprising 19 countries and the European Union (EU). It works to address major issues related to the global economy, such as international financial stability, climate change mitigation, and sustainable development. The G20 is composed of most of the world’s largest economies, including both industrialized and developing nations, and accounts for around 90 per cent of gross world product (GWP), 75-80 per cent of international trade, ] two-thirds of the global population, and roughly half the world’s land area. The G20, bringing together a diverse grouping of 19 countries and the European Union (EU), has worked briskly since 1999 to build international consensus on tackling major issues relating to global economics, international financial stability, climate change mitigation and sustainable development. The intergovernmental forum comprises of the world’s largest developed and emerging economies, with the members representing more than 80 per cent of the world’s GDP, 75 per cent of global trade and 60 per cent of the total global population. The sheer size and strategic importance of the economies involved give the ‘Group of 20′ a crucial responsibility to lay the foundation for long-term global economic growth. The G20 was founded in 1999 in response to several world economic crises. Since 2008, it has convened at least once a year, with summits involving each member’s head of government or state, finance minister, foreign minister, and other high-ranking officials, when the European Union is represented by the European Commission and the European Central Bank. Other countries, international organizations, and nongovernmental organizations are invited to attend the summits, some on a permanent basis. At its 2009 summit, the G20 declared itself the primary venue for international economic and financial cooperation. The group’s stature has risen during the subsequent decade, and it is recognized by analysts as exercising considerable global influence. The G20’s primary focus has been governance of the global economy. Summit themes have varied from year to year. The Summit of G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors, who prepare the leaders’ summit and implement their decisions, was created as a response both to the financial crisis of 2007-2008 and to a growing recognition that key emerging countries were not adequately included in the core of global economic discussion and governance. The year 2021 presents the world with unique challenges un-encountered in the past. The incoming shock of a global health crisis in the name of the corona virus (COVID-19) pandemic upended the daily functioning of people and economies worldwide. A result of these profound changes is the magnification of other systemic burdens, such as climate change and inequality, in every corner of the world. It is now recognized that local and regional challenges have assumed an urgency that is global in reach, and the process towards building back a better world requires decision-making and implementation on a scale unhindered by borders. The 2021 G20, under Italian Presidency, remained focused on sharing experiences and learning’s from the past year to develop plans that would set the tone for long-term growth which the G20 says, should be ‘resilient, sustainable and green’. The three interconnected pillars of action that arise from these objectives are: People, Planet, and Prosperity. Here, multilateralism has found a new meaning in being indispensable to ensure a swift pandemic response in line with guaranteeing equity and access to healthcare, building up resilience to future shocks and promoting overall prosperity. In this context, India’s standing as one of the influential emerging powers is only going to gain more firm ground. For the first time, India will hold the G20 presidency from December 2022 and will convene the leaders’ summit in 2023. This event is a testament to the country’s ever-increasing efforts at spearheading growth and attracting global investor interest. The latest Investment Trends Monitor published by the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) notes, that while the widespread downturn in economic activity led to a decline in global foreign direct investment (FDI) by 42 per cent in 2020, FDI received by India grew 13 per cent in the same year. Supporting this outlook, the UNCTAD’s latest annual World Investment Report ranks India as the fifth largest FDI recipient globally for 2020, up from the previous eighth position. Amid weak global investor sentiment, the country has continued to fervently push to reform FDI policy, improve investment facilitation and strengthen ease of doing business. As economies slowly open their borders, India is already on the road to an upswing. The country is steadily boosting its vaccination drive, with the cumulative number of vaccine doses administered crossing 862 Million as of 27 September 2021, according to Government data. The development and production of indigenous vaccines – Covaxin (Bharat Biotech) and ZyCOV-D (Zydus Cadila) are a testimony to India’s capability in healthcare technology. It is clear that wide-ranging support from India across several knowledge areas will be required to start taking concrete steps on the path to post-Covid-19 recovery. The country is well placed to take the lead, with the International Monetary Fund estimating that India will grow by 9.5 per cent in 2021, as against a projected global growth rate of 6 per cent. Adding to these factors, India’s commitment to multilateral cooperation, innovation and focus on climate change and sustainability have ensured its pivotal role in the G20 agenda. India is now at a stage where its experience, guidance and leadership is indispensable in the G20 problem-solving process.
The G20 leaders committed to the key goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, but for the first time, they identified sustainable and responsible consumption and production as ‘critical enablers’ in achieving the goal. The inclusion was in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of promoting the mantra of sustainable lifestyles all over the world. The G20 leaders fell short on announcing a target of zero emissions, a call India had rejected ahead of the Summit and the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow. Sustainable consumption and responsible production patterns are also part of Sustainable Development Goal, aimed at encouraging developed countries to reduce their luxurious energy-intensive lifestyles.
Livelihoods for small and marginal farmers were at the focus of our discussions and everybody has agreed that improving their livelihood is an important global effort that we all have to put in, when the union minister of India Piyush Goyal, who was India’s Sherpa to G20 Summit also told a press briefing in Rome about the same. Leaders of G20 nations, including India, US, China, and Russia have called for clear national plans that “align long-term ambition with short and medium-term goals and with international cooperation and support”. The Indian delegation, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who attended the G20 Leaders’ Summit, held a series of bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the G20 Summit and also paid a visit to Pope Francis. At G20 Summit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi calls for collaborative approach in global fight against Covid-19. A collaborative approach is needed for the world community to fight the Covid-19 pandemic and develop mechanisms to deal with future pandemics and global health issues, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said at the G20 Summit. He stressed the need for resilient global supply chains and invited the G20 state to make India their partner in economic recovery and supply chain diversification. He also welcomed the G20’s move for a 15 per cent minimum corporate tax, saying it would make the global financial architecture more just and ensure that MNCs pay their share of taxes to countries they are located in.
Similarly in the COP26 Summit, while addressing world leaders at the event of ‘Accelerating Clean Technology Innovation and Deployment’, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, called for ‘One Sun, One World, One Grid’ to improve the viability of solar power and announced that ISRO, India’s space agency, will soon provide the world a calculator that can measure solar energy potential of any region across the globe. He said that ‘In India, it has been mentioned in the ancient text, in the ‘Suryopanishada’, that everything is created from the Sun, the source of all energy is the Sun and it is the energy from the Sun that nurtures all. Ever since there has been life on earth, the life cycle of all living beings, the daily routine has been linked with the rising and setting of the Sun. The Prime Minister said that till the time this connection with nature was maintained, the planet stayed protected and healthy. However, he said, in modern times and in the eagerness to race ahead, man disturbed the balance of nature and caused great harm to the environment. “If we want to re-establish a life in balance with nature, the path to this life can only be lit by our Sun. In order to protect the future of mankind, we must go together with the Sun,” Modi added. The Prime Minister then said that ‘One Sun, One World, One Grid’ was the solution to tackle the challenge of solar power available only during the day. “In one hour, the earth’s atmosphere receives enough sunlight to power the electricity needed by every human being on earth for a year. This unlimited energy is completely clean and sustainable. The only challenge is that solar energy is only available during the day and is dependent on weather conditions. One Sun, One World, One Grid is a solution for this very challenge,” he said.
(The author is a Chartered Consultant Civil Engineer, passionately attached and devoted to his Motherland – Jammu & Kashmir).