Impact of G20 on Sustainable Development and

Inclusive Growth: commitments and outcome

 Introduction to G20

• The Group of Twenty (G20), an informal grouping of the world’s

largest 20 economies, was formed in 1999 after the Asian
financial crisis. The Grouping was created to enhance global
policy coordination and give greater visibility to emerging
economies, which are increasingly interconnected in the global
economy. In its initial years, global economic growth and financial
market regulation have been the sole focus of G20.
• The G20 comprises Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China,
EU, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico,
Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, UK and
USA.
Relationship between growth, inclusion and sustainability
G20 Collective Actions for Sustainable Development
Sustainable Development

Drawing on the G20 agenda for strong, sustainable and

balanced growth and the G20’s multi-year development
agenda (Seoul Development Consensus, St Petersburg
Development Outlook and the G20 - Low Income and
Developing Countries Framework), these SDS capture the
G20’s collective actions towards sustainable development in
its economic, social and environmental dimensions and
poverty eradication as addressed in the 2030 Agenda.
 G20 and Inclusive Growth

Green Growth attempts to provide a solution to the joint

objectives of economic growth and environmental
sustainability. The G20 countries have increasingly recognised
the importance of green growth. In the past, G20 made
several commitments to creating new economic opportunities
while solving environmental and resource scarcity challenges.
However, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused the worst
economic contraction and significantly impacted the global
green growth transition. The pandemic has largely relegated
climate, food security and public health.
Areas in the ambit of sustainable development
Commitments in the field of Food Security and
Sustainable Agriculture
Sustainable agriculture and food security remain top priorities
in the G20 agenda. The G20 members are committed to
promoting sustainable agriculture, which has a significant
role in achieving a wide range of SDGs, including food and
nutrition security. Since the G20 economies are central
players in the global food production and supply chain
system, for example- G20 nations produce nearly 80 per cent
of the world’s cereals and account for a similar percentage of
world agricultural exports, therefore G20 policies related to
agriculture and food security can also impact global food
security and nutrition.
 Steps

• Food Security and Nutrition Framework (2014), Food Security Action Plan
(2015) are other other significant development in this regard. The
Framework provides “the basis for the G20 to take a long-term, integrated
and sustainable food systems approach that will guide future action on food
security and nutrition.”
• The 2016 G20 Agriculture Minister’s meeting produced the Implementation
Plan and the Action Plan on Food Security and Sustainable Food Systems.
• Likewise, the 2018 Argentina Presidency has focused on sustainable soil
management and its impact on food security and human development
• In October 2022, the first G20 Joint Finance and Agriculture Ministers
(JFAMM) meeting agreed to task international organisation namely the Food
and Agricultural Organization (FAO) and World Bank in mapping global
policy responses to food insecurity.
 Commitments for improving Public Health

Global public health has received consistent attention

of the G20 since its first leaders’ level summit in
Washington DC, in 2008. Since then it made nearly 80
collective, politically binding, future-oriented
commitments on health.
It was in Japan, for the first time G20 Health and
Finance Ministers met jointly and the Group
recognised the vital link between investments in public
health and economic resilience.
 Steps
• In 2020, the Saudi Arabian presidency developed a new narrative for pandemic
financing. It also proposed “Enabling Person-Centred Health Systems” focusing
on value-based health care and digital health solutions as the central pillar of the
health agenda.
• Moreover, a G20 Digital Health Taskforce was created and it submitted a Report
on Digital Health Implementation Approach to Pandemic Management.
•  In 2021, under Italian leadership G20 has not only recognised the
interdependency between health and wealth but also created a High-level
Independent Panel on Financing the Global Commons for Pandemic
Preparedness and Responses. The panel calls for a significant increase in public
funding in the global health to plug major gaps in pandemic prevention and
preparedness.
 Commitments for attaining Climate Sustainability

Climate change has now become one of the most significant challenges to
humankind. The deteriorating global environment seriously needs sustainable
development goals. The G20 economies are responsible for nearly 75 per cent of
global greenhouse gas emissions. Moreover, they are leading in the promotion of
fossil fuels, as they derive 82 per cent of their total energy supply from coal, oil and
gas. Many G20 countries are also significant producers of fossil fuels. Thus, the
group members’ commitments and compliance are critical to achieving global
climate commitments. Moreover, G20 has a strong economic interest in limiting
global warming to 1.5°C due to climate change’s negative impact on total economic
activity. The Group has frequently reiterated the timely implementation of
international climate agreements and commitments.
 Steps
• The 2012 Summit in Mexico established the G20 study group on climate finance to
consider ways to mobilise resources and support the operationalisation of the Green
Climate Fund.
• Commitment to phase down the production and consumption of hydrofluorocarbons, the
USD 3 billion campaign for the Green Climate Fund and support for the Paris Conference’s
ambition were the significant outcomes of St Petersburg (2013), Brisbane (2014) and
Antalya (2015) Summits.
• In Guangzhou, in 2016, the G20 Sherpas agreed on a Presidential Statement on Climate
Change, committing to signing the Paris Agreement and bringing it into force as soon as
possible.
• The Sherpa track, which is coordinated directly by the G20 leaders, established a
dedicated working group, the G20 Hamburg Climate and Energy Action Plan for Growth,
on climate and energy in 2017, which became a stand-alone working group in 2018.”
Osaka Blue Ocean Vision and the G20 Implementation Framework for Actions on Marine
Plastic Litter were the other significant developments during these years.
A statistical representation of the changes brought about the adoption of action plan on 2030 agenda
 Impact of implementation of Hangzhou and
Hamburg growth strategies
• The OECD’s assessment (2018) Quantifying the Implementation and
Impact of G20 Members’ Growth Strategies found that:
•  Around two-thirds of the key commitment measures in the
Comprehensive Growth Strategies put forward at the Brisbane Summit, as
well as in the Adjusted Growth Strategies at the Antalya Summit, have been
fully implemented.
•  Half of the key commitment measures in the Adjusted Growth Strategies
at the Hangzhou Summit and around 40% of the commitment measures in
the Adjusted Growth Strategies at the Hamburg Summit have been fully
implemented.
• The implementation of these commitments raised G20 GDP by around
1.3% by 2018, though there was a high degree of uncertainty around this
estimate.
The statistical representation of the growth achieved through the implementation of
Hangzhou and Hamburg growth strategies
 Impact on Inclusive growth as a whole

• The G20 has emphasized inclusive growth as a stand

alone policy goal, as we have discussed above but
ensuring that growth benefits all also tends to go hand in
hand with achieving sustainable growth. For example,
political support for structural reforms is higher if the
resulting income gains are more widely shared.
• Yet after 1990 inequality as meaured by gini coefficient
arose across most g 20 economies, and remains high even
in some emerging economies where it fell over that
period(the red areas in the map show an increase in
inequality while the green areas shows decrease).
 Impact on sustainable development as a whole

Overall, the G20 countries suffer certain deficiencies and limitations in

terms of agenda setting, implementation and monitoring, reflected by
their sluggish progress towards the SDGs. These shortcomings relate to
both, the national actions by individual members as well as the collective
ones on issues such as climate change. The reporting by countries on
SDGs as shown in the figure, is asystematic as there is weak
accountability mechanisms in place. Further, there seems to be a
problem of asymmetric information, as the developing countries often
lack information on SDG management and financing. There is also a
significant mismanagement in the process of directing financial
resources for the achievement of SDGs. For example, although G20
countries have managed to build consensus and agreements on the
issue of protecting the global commons, they are still not adequately
managed and protected. Working on these weaknesses will efficiently
The score of various countries signifying their acheivement of SDG.
 Conclusion
• Over the years, the G20 has aligned its own development agenda with both global priorities,
and the development needs and targets of G20 members. The G20 has an existing
framework to coordinate on developmental issues through interactions of specialised
ministers from its members. With the adoption of the SDGs, their roles and responsibilities
were aligned with the global agenda. Thus, the G20 provided a common platform for
countries to undertake collective actions and learn from each other in making individual
progress towards fulfilling the SDGs. In some cases, the G20 process of reviewing individual
progress involves self-assessment by countries rather than a third-party enforcement
mechanism. Nonetheless, as a multilateral forum, the G20 supports initiatives by
international forums.
• Overall, the G20 has been instrumental in launching new initiatives and tracking progress of
countries in the implementation of the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda. The role of
the G20 in global policymaking was conceived differently. The purpose has been to bring
countries together to cooperate on issues of common interest. In that respect, the G20 as a
forum can set actionable targets, facilitate discussion and track progress. Actual
implementation, however, remains in the hands of individual nations.
 Bibliography

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