The U20 summit, the meeting of representatives of big cities from the countries of the G20 group, which Brazil presides over this year, concluded on Sunday in Rio de Janeiro. Mayors and delegations from 38 cities met in Rio this year to discuss issues ranging from the economy and climate to urban development and fresh from major natural disasters in recent months.

Big cities, big disasters

Big cities ultimately prove to be more vulnerable to the effects of the climate crisis, as Brazilian President Inacio Lula da Silva pointed out in his closing speech: “Urban centers are disproportionately exposed to the effects of climate change with rising sea levels, heat waves, water insecurity and flash floods, such as those seen recently in southern Brazil, Colombia and Spain.”

The president of Chile, Gabriel Borich, also gave his own experience from a year in which great disasters from fires were followed by deadly floods.

“We also suffered from floods that hit major cities in our country. No one can escape them, because low-income cities and high-income cities could be equally vulnerable to the climate crisis.”

The Gaza drama

Inásio Lula did not fail to mention other disasters that are not due to the climate, but absolutely to the human factor: “The Gaza Strip, one of the oldest urban settlements of mankind, dating back to 4,000 years before Christ, was destroyed in two third of its territory from indiscriminate bombing. 80% of health care facilities no longer exist. Beneath the rubble lie more than 40,000 lives taken away.”

The “South” in the foreground

However, many participants noted with satisfaction the fact that the Global South appears to be increasingly claiming the right to co-decision on the top issues of the planet, both in general and within the context of the G20, as pointed out by Maria Antonietta del Tedesco Lins, economist and associate professor at the University of São Paulo: “It is the third consecutive country from the Global South to hold the presidency – we had the Indonesia, India and Brazil now. And next year we’ll have South Africa, which will have some room to lead the conversation.”

Especially for Africa, where there are several big cities with serious infrastructure problems, the hopes from this presidency are high. “Historically, African countries are underrepresented in these meetings despite the importance of the continent. And the African Union was invited to join the G20 as a more balanced way of representing African countries,” notes Thomas Marques from Hamburg’s GIGA Institute for Latin American Studies.