G-20 Virtual Summit Level meet

After the successful culmination of the G-20 leaders summit held in New Delhi, the Indian Prime Minister (Chair of G-20 Till December 2023)??? announced a Leader’s summit in a virtual format in November 2023.

Background and Significance

• The virtual summit would be held as still some months remained for India’s G-20 chairing period to reflect upon the decisions arrived at the physical summit.
• The summit would be held on Nov 2022
• Amid the global challenges- Climate change, development, Global south, Russia-Ukraine Crisis, Trade and post Covid economy, the summit is expected to reflect upon the crisis in west asia viz-a-viz Isreal, Hamas and Gaza.

About G20:

• The G20 originated in 1999 in response to the Asian financial crisis of 1997-98, initially serving as an informal platform for finance ministers and central bank governors from both developed and developing economies.
• In 2008, following the global financial crisis, the G20 expanded to include the heads of state of member countries.
• The G20 Presidency rotates annually under a troika system, involving the current, previous, and next host countries.
• In 2022, India took over the G20 Presidency from Indonesia, the preceding member of the troika.
• The presidency has now been passed to Brazil, the next troika country.

About the summit 2023:

• The summit’s theme, “VasudhaivaKutumbakam” or “One Earth, One Family, One Future” is rooted in ancient Sanskrit texts and the goal of sustainable development.
• The G20 Summit 2023 has concluded recently under India’s presidency which has ignited many upcoming plans for India, who is now about to become the leader of the Global South.
• India was successfully able to achieve consensus around the New Delhi Declaration early on in the G20 Summit, which saw a dilution in the position taken by the U.S. and EU on Russia, besides focus on UN Sustainable Development Goals, climate action and green development initiatives, multilateral financing, digital public infrastructure, artificial intelligence (AI), and international taxation, among others.
• India also invited Nigeria, Egypt, and Mauritius as part of the ‘Guest Countries’ at the G20 summit.

Key Outcomes

1. Social Issues and Women:

• India calibrated efforts toward education with a focus on STEM and one of the critical contributions of its presidency included ‘TechEquity’, a Digital Inclusion Platform through which girls and women can skill, upskill and reskill themselves in digital literacy, financial literacy and other technical subjects.

2. As a Voice of Global South- Signed New Delhi Declaration

• Included African Union as a member:The Group of 20 (G-20) annual summit welcomed the African Union as a member, marking an important development in global economic cooperation.
• Member countries committed to a "phasedown" of coal usage in line with their national circumstances. They also pledged to triple renewable energy sources by 2030.
• Developing countries require $5.8 to $5.9 trillion in the pre-2030 period to meet their climate goals. The world needs an additional $4 trillion annually by 2030 to achieve the net-zero carbon emission goals by 2050.

3. Regulating Economies

Global approach to regulate cryptocurrencies

The global push for a clear policy on crypto assets has gained momentum under the Indian presidency, and a global consensus is emerging on the same.

4. Growing Trade and Commerce

India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC)

5. Adopting Climate Resilient methods

Global Biofuel Alliance (GBA)

• GBA is an India-led Initiative to develop an alliance of Governments, International organizations and Industry to facilitate adoption of biofuels.