This month, two events occur back-to-back: the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (“Rio +20”) in Brazil and the Group of 20 (G20) Summit, in Mexico. This paper asks how the powerful G20 might influence outcomes of Rio+20.
The eurozone crisis hijacked the French G20 Summit and shows every sign of doing the same at the Mexican Summit, as fear of a Greek exit (“Grexit”) from the eurozone morphs into panic over Spain (“Spanic”).
The G20 adapted the 20 Year Development Action Plan (DAP) at the summit in Seoul, South Korea. This plan does not include a strategy for Africa's energy future or energy infrastructure plans. An effective process must put more effort on localize energy and use Renewable Energy Technology.
The G8 and G20 Summits, which will be held on May 18-19 and June 18-19, respectively, are both being held in remote locations. When the original venue of the G8 Summit was Chicago (just prior to the May 20 NATO Summit in Chicago), major “Occupy” protests were being organized. Then, President Obama decided to move the G8 Summit to Camp David, his presidential retreat in the mountains of the U.S. state of Maryland.
This paper describes the strengths and weaknesses in the G20’s “financial inclusion” initiative, which attempts to get desperately needed credit to households as well as the small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that provide almost half of the labor force and almost half manufacturing employment in developing countries.
The G20’s legacy will relate to economic outcomes as well as its record in reducing both the resource-intensity of development and the incidence of poverty and inequality. To that end, this brief provides recommendations for the G20 with regard to infrastructure, food security, investment in sustainable development, and global governance.
The G20’s new troika is preparing for the G20 Summit in Los Cabos,Mexico on June 18-19, 2012. The troika is comprised of the current, former, and upcoming Presidencies of the G20: Mexico, France, and Russia.
