G20 Summit: 5 Key Things World Leaders Will Discuss The primary focus of G20 has been the economic coordination. Over the years, the agenda has, however, expanded to discussions on issues such as climate change, sustainable energy, global health etc

India is gearing up for the much-awaited G20 summit, happening in New Delhi on September 8th and 9th. With this, India has not only strengthened its prowess on the global stage, but it has also raised the bar for future hosts, with more than 200 G20-related events across cities and a budget allocation of over INR 990 crore for G20 in February.

The primary focus of G20 has been the economic coordination. Over the years, the agenda has, however, expanded to discussions on issues such as climate change, sustainable energy, global health etc. But this year, experts say that issues such as rivalry between India and China, divisions over Ukraine war and climate change goals between developed and developing countries may cause discord at the summit.

Below are the host of issues that will be discussed, albeit maybe without reaching a consensus. But before that, here are a few pointers on what is G20 and why it is important.

• The Group of Twenty (G20) was formed in 1999
• It is a forum of twenty of the world's largest economies
• The group meets regularly to discuss global policy on trade, health, climate, and other issues
• The G20 comprises 19 countries and the European Union (EU)
• Together, they represent a major portion of the global GDP and population
• The 19 countries are Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, the United Kingdom (UK), and the United States
• Spain is invited as a permanent guest
• The G20 presidency rotates annually and India holds the position currently
• This is the 18th G20 Summit
• Issues addressed in the previous summits include COVID 19 pandemic, 2008 financial crisis, Iranian nuclear program, Syrian civil war, among others
• G2O is a premier global forum for discussing economic issues
• However, lately, it has seen some divisions over trade, climate change, and the Ukraine war

Source: World Bank

What will the group discuss?

The theme for this year's international summit is "Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam". This means, One Earth. One Family. One Future. It gives the message of global unity while discussing the following issues.

Climate change

Climate change has been a major focus area at the recent summits. However, so far, there has not been a concrete consensus. For instance, at the 2021 Rome summit, countries agreed to curb emissions of methane and end public financing for most new coal power plants overseas. In recent climate and energy minister meetings, the world's biggest economies failed to agree on critical climate change issues. That is why, while climate change is expected to be one of the key discussion topics, it needs to be seen whether a consensus will be reached.

Issues facing lower-income countries

India is framing the agenda around issues faced by lower-income countries in the Global South. These include rising debt levels, high inflation, depreciating local currencies, food insecurity, among others. "India has truly emerged as the voice of the Global South during its G20 presidency and this is the first time that four emerging markets, one after another Indonesia, India, Brazil, and South Africa will hold the G20 presidency and therefore it gives a very massive opportunity to bring all the critical issues of developing countries centre stage, as India has done, and carry them vigorously forward for implementation," said Amitabh Kant, the G20 Sherpa for India, in the short video message.

Reforming international debt architecture

One of the discussions under India's presidency will be around more loans to developing nations from multilateral institutions, reforming international debt architecture, and regulatory framework for cryptocurrency, among others. Developing countries such as Zambia, Srilanka are struggling with debt issues that hurt their economies. The G20 summit in Delhi will discuss how to help them. Some other areas include reforms in multilateral banks to foster progress on sustainable development.

Clean energy transition

A push for clean energy is expected be one of the key discussion points. Many major Indian companies, led by JSW Group, Godrej and Boyce and Infosys have written to G20 leaders to push for an end to fossil fuels use without emissions captured, support for green vehicles and clean power. In July this year, G20 energy ministers, met under India's G20 Presidency, with the aim to share and collaborate in accelerating clean, sustainable, just, affordable, and inclusive energy transitions, as a means of enabling secure, sustainable, equitable, shared and inclusive growth. Energy Ministers of most G20 member countries except France, Russia, and Mexico attended the meeting physically. The meeting also had the participation of energy ministers of guest countries including Bangladesh, Denmark, Egypt, Mauritius, Netherlands, Oman, Singapore and Spain; and representatives of international organizations including ADB, CEM, ERIA, IEA, IEF, IRENA, ISA, OPEC, SE4ALL, UNEP, UNIDO, World Bank, World Economic Forum and GECF.

Russia-Ukraine war

Ukraine war is likely to cause discord at the Delhi summit, say experts. After the meeting of G20 foreign ministers in March, India's foreign minister, S Jaishankar, said, "there were differences which we couldn't reconcile". There have been various other occasions when leaders were unable to come to an agreement. In March 2022, the G20 foreign ministers were unable to reach agreements at their meeting because of heated arguments over the war between the US and Russia delegations.

Overall, the discussions will revolve around the following themes:

• Green Development, Climate Finance and LiFE
• Accelerated, Inclusive and Resilient Growth
• Accelerating Progress on SDGs
• Technological Transformation and Digital Public Infrastructure
• Multilateral Institutions for the 21st Century
• Women-led Development