The Hindu Editorial Analysis- 11th September 2023 | Current Affairs & Hindu Analysis: Daily, Weekly & Monthly - UPSC PDF Download

Stocktaking calamity

Why in News?

The climate crisis intricately wove itself into the G-20 summit in Delhi, particularly during the discussions on clean energy, sustainable development and the collective responsibility necessary to avert it. 

Important Outcomes from G20 Summit 2023 Day 1 Highlights

• African Union Granted Permanent G20 Membership: In a groundbreaking decision during the opening session, the African Union was granted permanent membership in the G20, signifying a significant step toward inclusivity.
• Bilateral Discussions: Numerous bilateral discussions unfolded, including a pivotal meeting between Indian Prime Minister Modi and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, reinforcing diplomatic ties.
• Adoption of G20 New Delhi Leaders’ Declaration: Prime Minister Modi proudly announced the adoption of the G20 New Delhi Leaders’ Declaration, showcasing collective agreement and commitment.
• Acknowledgment and Gratitude: PM Modi extended gratitude to G20 sherpas, ministers, and officials for their unwavering dedication to making the joint declaration possible.
• India’s Presidency Walking the Talk: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman asserted that India demonstrated its commitment and action during its presidency, emphasizing tangible results.
• Addressing the Russia-Ukraine Conflict: The declaration addressed the Russia-Ukraine conflict, underlining the urgency for peace in today’s global landscape and its detrimental effects on supply chains, macro-financial stability, inflation, and economic growth.
• Global Biofuel Alliance Launch: PM Modi introduced the Global Biofuel Alliance, rallying G20 nations to take ethanol blending with petrol to a global 20% standard.
• India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor: Leaders inaugurated the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor, a massive rail and shipping connectivity project, fostering economic integration across regions.
• Successful Negotiations and Unity: Hard-fought negotiations led by India, with support from key countries such as Brazil, South Africa, and Indonesia, culminated in a united G20 declaration, dispelling doubts amid divisions related to the Ukraine war.
• G20 Commitment to WTO Reforms: G20 leaders expressed their commitment to reform the World Trade Organisation (WTO) dispute settlement system by 2024.
• G20 Leaders Dinner: President Droupadi Murmu hosted a lavish dinner for G20 leaders, featuring a diverse array of Indian culinary traditions.
• US President Biden on Xi’s Absence: US President Joe Biden commented on the absence of China’s President Xi Jinping, stating that the summit was proceeding well despite it.
• Nalanda University’s Legacy: The greeting area at the dinner featured the ruins of Nalanda University, highlighting India’s rich educational heritage.
• Bilateral Talks and Meetings: Prime Minister Modi engaged in bilateral discussions with several leaders, including Italy’s PM Giorgia Meloni.
• Global Biofuels Alliance Launch: India launched the Global Biofuels Alliance, urging G20 nations to join the initiative and increase ethanol blending with petrol to 20%.
• India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor: PM Modi stressed the significance of the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor, emphasizing its potential for sustainable development.
• G20 Commitment to Cross-Border Payments: G20 nations committed to promoting faster, transparent, and inclusive cross-border payments, in line with the G20 roadmap.
• UK-India FTA Discussions: India and the UK discussed their growing ties and progress towards delivering a UK-India Free Trade Agreement (FTA).
• G20 Spouses Explore Indian Agriculture: The spouses of G20 leaders experienced India’s agricultural prowess through exhibitions and farm-to-fork experiences.
• G20 Leaders Embrace Clean Energy: G20 countries committed to phasing down unabated coal power and eliminating inefficient fossil fuel subsidies.
• Territorial Integrity and Sovereignty: The G20 declaration called for all states to uphold principles of territorial integrity, sovereignty, and peaceful conflict resolution.
• Global Push for Crypto-Asset Policies: There is a global push for clearer policies on crypto-assets, gaining momentum and consensus among G20 nations.
• G20 Urges Peace in Ukraine: The G20 New Delhi Leaders’ Declaration stressed the importance of peaceful conflict resolution and refraining from war in today’s era.
• Achievements of India’s G20 Presidency: India’s G20 Presidency was marked by ambitious initiatives, a focus on climate financing, and successful negotiations on various fronts.
• Record Stock Market Valuation: India’s strong economic growth and stock market performance set the stage for a significant presence at the G20 summit 2023.
• Adoption of G20 New Delhi Leaders’ Declaration: Prime Minister Modi officially declared the adoption of the G20 New Delhi Leaders’ Declaration, signaling the successful outcome of Day 1.

Historical Background of G20 Summit

• The Group owes its origin to the Financial Crisis in 1997-98 of the Asian Tigers (Countries of East and Southeast Asia), which caused its establishment in 1999. It worked first as a forum for the Central Bank Governors and Finance Ministers of the major industrialised and developing economies to discuss global economic and financial stability.
• Elevation to Leader’s Level: After the 2008 global financial crisis, it was upgraded to the level of Heads of State or Government when it became clear that crisis coordination would be possible only at the highest political level.
  • In 2009, it was declared as the “premier forum for international economic cooperation”.
  • The G20 Leaders have met on a regular basis since then, and the G20 has emerged as the leading platform for global economic cooperation.

G20 Countries List

• G20 comprises 19 countries, namely Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkiye, the United Kingdom, the United States and the European Union.
  • These members account for around 85% of the world GDP, 75% of the total international trade, and two-thirds of the global population.
  • In addition to these member countries, the G20 each year invites guest countries and international organisations such as the United Nations, World Bank, IMF, OECD, ASEAN, etc., to participate in its meetings.

Structure and Functioning of G20

The G20 operates on the basis of annual meetings of Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors, with a leaders' summit held once a year. The G20 consists of two parallel tracks called the Finance Track and the Sherpa Track. These two tracks play an active role in shaping ideas and priorities for the host presidency while also guiding the intergovernmental negotiations carried out throughout the presidency. They prepare and follow up on the issues and commitments adopted at the Summits.

• Troika: The G20 does not have a charter or a secretariat. The Presidency is supported by the Troika, which includes the previous, current, and incoming presidencies. The G20 Presidency hosts the Summit and directs the agenda for a calendar year.
• A non-binding forum: Its decisions are not legally binding, and member countries are not required to implement them.
• Working with international organisations: The G20 members also work closely with international organisations such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank, and the World Trade Organization (WTO).

Significance of G20 Summit 2023

• Wider areas of cooperation: The agenda of the G20 has been expanding from a broad macroeconomic policy to include more areas of cooperation.
  • The G20 summit in Hangzhou (China), 2016, saw the convergence of the US and China on the Paris Agreement. 
  • The G20 summit in Argentina, 2018 focused on fair and sustainable development.
  • G20 summit in Germany, 2021 focused on the issues regarding money laundering, international tax havens, and corruption. 
  • G20 summit in Bali (Indonesia), 2022 focused on financial stability, humanitarian crisis, poverty, and aid to least developed nations, among other things. 
• Food security: The leaders promised to work together to address food security issues and praised the Black Sea grains initiative.
• Promoting gender equality: Recognize the importance of gender equality and commit to promoting it by increasing women's participation in the workforce, reducing the gender pay gap, and improving access to education and healthcare. 
• Global balance of power: The G20 promotes a more equitable distribution of power among developed and developing countries than the earlier formed blocs such as G-7 and P-5 (UNSC), which helps to maintain a balance of power at the global level. 
• Bringing adversaries on a common platform: The importance of the G20 lies in its ability to bring together countries with different ideologies, political systems, and economic interests onto a common platform to discuss and address global economic issues.
• Addressing climate change: The G20 has recognised the threat of climate change and has taken some initiatives to address it.
  • The commitments adopted by the G20 members in the domain of climate change revolve around the following issues: energy efficiency and renewables; adoption of advanced and clean technologies; resilient infrastructure; tackling environmental challenges like biodiversity loss; adoption of the Circular Carbon Economy etc.
• Networking and collaboration: The G20 provides an opportunity for leaders from different countries to meet and exchange ideas, strengthening relationships and promoting collaboration on economic issues.
• Global economic cooperation: The G20 has played a critical role in responding to economic crises such as the 2008 global financial crisis, the Eurozone debt crisis, and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Issues and Limitations of G20

While the G20 has played an important role in shaping global economic policies, there are several challenges and limitations to its effectiveness:

• Difficulty in reaching consensus: Countries with a wide range of economic and political systems can make it difficult for them to reach a consensus on important issues.
  • For example, during the 2008 global financial crisis, the G20 struggled to come up with a coordinated response.
  • There has been friction within the group sometimes regarding the issue of climate change.
  • Further, geopolitical tensions such as the Russia-Ukraine crisis also become the bone of contention in reaching the consensus, as observed in the Bali G20 summit as well as during the current India's G20 presidency.
• No Permanent Secretariat: The G20 does not have a permanent secretariat, due to which monitoring becomes cumbersome and inefficient as discussions expand.
• Non-binding decisions: Member countries are not legally bound to implement the decisions made at G20 meetings.
  • For example, the G20 countries had agreed to a set of guidelines for preventing the financing of terrorism, but there is no mechanism to enforce compliance with these guidelines.
• Limited membership: The G20 only includes 19 countries and the European Union, which means that other important economies are not included. Expanding the membership could help to ensure that the group is more representative of the global economy.

India’s G2O Presidency 2023

India is hosting the G20 Leaders' Summit 2023 for the first time in history, with 43 Heads of Delegation attending the final New Delhi Summit in September 2023, the most ever in the G20. Amitabh Kant is the G20 Sherpa of India. India is on a mission to create a shared global future with a rules-based order, peace, and just growth for all through its Amrit Kaal initiative.

• Theme of India’s G20 presidency: “Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam” or “One Earth - One Family - One Future”.
• Troika: During the presidency, the Troika would consist of Indonesia, India and Brazil. 
• Invitees: Other than the members and multilateral institutions, nine countries have been invited - Bangladesh, Netherlands, Oman, Singapore, Nigeria, Spain and the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, and Mauritius.
• African representation: To make G20 more inclusive, India has proposed to include the African Union as a full-time member.
• Challenge for India presidency: In its various G20 meetings, India as a host, has been unable to draft a final joint statement acceptable to all members due to Russia-Ukraine tensions.

India's G20 Priorities

• Green Development, Climate Finance and Lifestyle for Environment (LiFE): India's emphasis on combating climate change, with a focus on climate technology and finance, as well as ensuring equitable energy transitions for developing nations.
• Accelerated, Inclusive & Resilient Growth:Focus on initiatives that could result in structural change, such as: assisting small and medium-sized businesses in international trade, advancing labour rights and welfare, addressing the global skills gap, and constructing inclusive agricultural value chains and food systems.
• Accelerating progress on SDGs: Recommitment to achieving the goals outlined in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, with an emphasis on addressing the COVID-19 pandemic's effects.
• Technological Transformation and Digital Public Infrastructure: Encouragement of a human-centric view of technology and increased knowledge exchange in areas like financial inclusion, digital public infrastructure, and tech-enabled development in industries like agriculture and education.
• Multilateral Institutions for the 21st century: Efforts to reform multilateralism and build a more accountable, inclusive, and representative global order capable of addressing the challenges of the twenty-first century.
• Women-led Development: In order to promote socio-economic development and the achievement of the SDGs, emphasis should be placed on inclusive growth and development, with a focus on women's empowerment and representation.

Significance of India’s G20 Presidency

• India’s growing economic influence: As the fastest-growing large economy, India’s role in the G20 is critical, and its presidency will help it further strengthen its economic ties with other G20 members.
• India’s leadership on climate change: India has been a strong advocate for climate action. As the world grapples with the challenge of climate change, India’s presidency can help set the tone for global cooperation on this issue.
• India’s focus on inclusive growth: By prioritising inclusive growth, India’s presidency will focus on issues such as infrastructure development, job creation, and women’s empowerment.
• India’s strategic importance: The presidency of the G20 will provide a platform for India to engage with other major powers, including the United States, China, and Russia, on issues of global importance.
• Becoming the voice of Global South: By holding the meeting of the Global South countries along with G20 meetings, India has become the voice of the erstwhile sidelined Global South.
• India’s role in quality healthcare: India has played a leading role in ensuring that developing and low-income countries have access to vaccines, financing, and other resources they need to recover from the pandemic. Thus, India can ensure universal, quality, and affordable health services.