The G20 Sherpa Summit, bringing together representatives of countries tasked with shaping discussions and agreements ahead of the final summit with heads of state next year, has prompted a proposal to reexamine the bloc’s purpose and mandate since its inception in 1999.
Zane Dangor, director-general of South Africa’s Department of International Relations and Cooperation and the country’s Sherpa, stressed at a press conference Tuesday evening that it was necessary to assess the G20’s purpose, its mandate and the agreements reached on various topics throughout its history.
“It is important to look at what has been achieved and what has enabled these achievements. We also need to identify what has not been achieved and the factors that have prevented these achievements,” he said.
The G20 presidency rotates annually among member countries and will return to the United States next year.
Dangor announced that a methodology would be developed for this G20 review to ask the right questions and get the right answers for a thorough analysis of the group.
“By the end of our presidency in November, we will be able to give them clear recommendations on how to improve the G20,” he added.
Established in 1999 as an informal forum for finance ministers and central bank governors from major industrialized and developing economies, the G20 is gradually expanding its scope to include topics such as trade, climate change and sustainable development.
However, according to a policy brief by Bertelsmann Stiftung, citizens from Argentina, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States have criticized the lack of transparency of G20 summits.
As for South Africa’s presidency, Dangor stressed that strengthening resilience and disaster response would be a key topic for the G20, “given the impact of climate change that requires a specific response.”
“We will amplify the voices of the Global South. We have 15 working groups in the Sherpa track that will drive this agenda,” he explained.
In the coming days, finance ministers will meet to discuss issues related to global growth, climate finance and improving debt sustainability.