A lively G20 opens this Monday in Brazil. In Rio, the heads of state and government will indeed discuss many sensitive subjects ranging from global warming to the return of Donald Trump, including the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East.
Ahead of this summit, which will notably bring together Emmanuel Macron, Joe Biden and Xi Jinping, 20 Minutes presents the upcoming menu for these two days.
Participants will have to try to move forward on the issue of climate financing. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres on Sunday called on G20 leaders to assume their “leadership” and make “compromises” to enable “a positive result at COP29”, the climate conference in Baku. where negotiations on the subject have stalled for a week.
The members of the G20 (19 countries, as well as the European Union and the African Union) represent 85% of global GDP and 80% of greenhouse gas emissions.
The invasion of Ukraine and the Israeli offensive in Gaza and Lebanon continue to fracture the international community. “Discussions on Ukraine and the Middle East […] are the most difficult. We will see how far we can go in the press release, it will be a challenge,” a German government source admitted before the G20. And on Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin, who had already missed the last summits, will be significantly absent in Rio.
- Argentina’s positioning
For several days, uncertainty has remained: what attitude will Argentine President Javier Milei, ultraliberal and climate skeptic, adopt? Buenos Aires has raised certain objections and will not “necessarily” sign the text, the head of the Argentine delegation, Federico Pinedo, has already warned, without going into details.
Left-wing Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, host of the summit, hopes to score points on social issues, as he poses as champion of the “global South” and the most disadvantaged. He also warned on Sunday evening, in an interview on the GloboNews channel: he wants to leave conflicts aside, “because otherwise, we are not going to discuss other things that are important” for “the poor, the invisible of the world “.
Lula also intends to strike a major blow with the launch this Monday morning of a Global Alliance against hunger and poverty. He also pushes for taxation of the richest.
- The Shadow of Donald Trump
The US president-elect will return to the White House on January 20. But his name will be on everyone’s minds in Rio. The return to power of this supporter of fossil fuels and slayer of multilateralism fuels fears of a weakening of global ambitions to combat global warming and of even greater international fragmentation.
