7 November 2014 With 6,000 Police on the ground, much uncertainty as to how the Summit beginning November 15-16 will unfold, this is what it means. G20 - THE WHO, THE WHAT AND THE WHY: WHAT IS THE G20? The Group of Twenty (G20) is a gathering of the worlds largest advanced and emerging economies. It started in 1999 after the Asian financial crisis but it wasnt until 2008 and that the first Leaders Summit was held. The summit is an annual affair where the G20 leaders come together to discuss ways of bolstering the global economy and creating jobs and growth. Its comprised of 19 member nations plus the European Union, along with extra guests each year. SO WHOS INVITED? The leaders of the G20 members: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United States and the European Union. Spain is a permanent invitee and comes every year. Apart from Spain, hosts are also allowed to invite their own guests. As president of the G20 this year Australia is inviting Mauritania, Myanmar, New Zealand, Senegal and Singapore. ANYONE ELSE INVOLVED? Several international organisations play a supporting role throughout the G20 including the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the OECD, the United Nations and the World Trade Organisation. There are multiple events held in conjunction with the G20 during the year. Australian business is represented by the B20, civil society by the C20, labour by the L20, think tanks by the T20 and youth by the Y20. WHOS IN CHARGE? The G20 doesnt have an overarching leadership. It runs on a troika system where the previous, current and next host split the duties. In this case thats Russia, Australia and Turkey. WHY IS IT IMPORTANT? The countries of the G20 generate 75 per cent of all world trade and 85 per cent of the worlds Gross Domestic Product. Prime Minister Tony Abbott has dubbed it the worlds most important economic forum. FUNNY FACTS: The representatives from each G20 country helping prepare for the Leaders Summit are called sherpas. The term proved so popular that less senior G20 officials have adopted spin-off titles such as sous-sherpa and yak. HOW TO KNOW IF THE G20 IS A SUCCESS OR NOT G20 - PAST ITS PRIME? The Group of Twenty hit its stride when leaders met for the first time in 2008 in the wake of the global financial crisis. The unprecedented level of cooperation at the first Leaders Week is credited for paving the way towards economic recovery. But since then some of the gloss has come off the annual gathering. The sense of common purpose has faded and recent summits have failed to deliver ambitious outcomes. Tensions between a number of G20 nations and fellow member Russia, coupled with domestic political decisions, have undermined the unity of the grouping. Prime Minister Tony Abbott says he wants tangible results from the the Brisbane summit - not just talk. Australia has a big task ahead if it wants to inject relevance back into the G20 and achieve real outcomes. WHAT ARE THEY TRYING TO ACHIEVE? The G20 has a tendency to jam pack its agenda. Tackling trade barriers, reforming global tax laws, boosting infrastructure investment - its all on the table. The federal government wanted to narrow the agenda for Brisbane. It will still address the usual issues but has chosen two overarching themes: boosting growth and jobs, and bolstering the global economy so it can deal with future shocks. All G20 members have already committed to finding new ways to meet a two per cent global growth boost over the next five years. They must present these ideas at the summit, with the proposals to be condensed into a Brisbane Action Plan with short and medium-term targets. WHAT WILL DEFINE SUCCESS? The Lowy Institutes G20 Studies Centre says the Brisbane summit will need a headline act or outcome to be deemed a success. Significant progress made on one or two key items will mean more than small gains across the entire agenda. Importantly, G20 leaders will need to be directly involved instead of deferring the negotiations entirely to officials as has occurred in recent years. ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS To demonstrate unity the leaders will need to show real progress on a major international issue like tax law or trade rules - something that cant be solved alone. Theyll also need to commit to implementing what theyve promised to do. Its no good having countries pledge to do their bit towards the global growth target if nobody is making sure theyre sticking to their word. GO EASY ON THE JARGON Abbott says he wants the official communique - the statement drafted by all leaders and released at the end of the summit - to be a succinct three pages. This is a far cry from the 27-page document dumped at the end of the last G20 meet in Russia. Australia will need to avoid paying lip service to all issues and ensure only those topics canvassed thoroughly by leaders are included in the final statement. A short communique will indicate the level of consensus was achieved among those at the table. DONT GET SIDETRACKED Its not uncommon for the G20 and other global fora to be derailed by the news of the day. A breaking development in a global hotspot like Ukraine, Iraq and Syria could overshadow anything on the G20 agenda and demand a response from world leaders in Brisbane. Abbotts promise to shirtfront Vladimir Putin has all but guaranteed the spotlight could be somewhat diverted from the G20 economic agenda to these sparring leaders. Climate change could also prove a thorny issue. Australia has refused to put climate change on the G20 agenda despite the US and some European nations seeking a chance to discuss it.. For further information on the many issues still needing ironing out pre G20 read on below.. msn/en-au/news/australia/brisbane-g20-has-many-issues-to-iron-out/ar-AA6U9Cc?ocid=mailsignout
Posted on: Fri, 07 Nov 2014 03:24:26 +0000
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