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2 December 2024

What Does the G20 Do?

Anshu Siripurapu, Noah Berman, and James McBride

The G20, formed in 1999, is a group of twenty of the world’s largest economies that meets regularly to coordinate global policy on trade, health, climate, and other issues.

Previous summits have addressed the COVID-19 pandemic, 2008 financial crisis, the Iranian nuclear program, and the Syrian civil war.

With the African Union joining as the newest member, the 2024 summit faces continued divisions over the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Introduction

The Group of Twenty (G20), originally a collection of twenty of the world’s largest economies, was conceived as a bloc that would bring together the most important industrialized and developing economies to discuss international economic and financial stability. Its annual summit, a gathering of G20 leaders that debuted in 2008, has evolved into a major forum for discussing economics as well as other pressing global issues. Bilateral meetings on the summit’s sidelines have occasionally led to major international agreements. And while one of the group’s most impressive achievements was its robust response to the 2008 financial crisis, its cohesion has since frayed, and analysts have criticized its lackluster response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Tensions within the group have continued to grow as high- and low-income countries have increasingly diverged on major issues such as climate change, economic development, and the ongoing fallout from the war in Ukraine. The 2023 summit saw the entrance of the African Union (AU) as the group’s newest member, and at the 2024 summit in Rio de Janeiro, host Brazil is seeking to further strengthen the influence of the Global South in world affairs.

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