There is no lack of contradiction in the priorities of the agenda that will be discussed in Rome by the leaders of the 19 largest economies in the world plus the European Union, the so-called G20.
The climate crisis and the cost of energy are two such issues that pull the cable in opposite directions.
The US, China, India and Russia are being called upon to cut their gas emissions more quickly to prevent an environmental catastrophe. With the same argument, European countries defend the end of subsidy for fossil fuels.
But the energy that drives large G20 economies, in addition to being heavily dependent on oil, is experiencing a price spike that is already affecting politicians’ popularity ratings.
In Rome, Biden will be in the same room as Saudi Arabia and could push for an increase in oil production and supply, to make it cheaper — a meeting of OPEC, the group of oil-producing countries, takes place the following week.
That’s all the environmentalists don’t want, but the US government has already said that the cost of energy could undermine another of the G20’s priorities, economic recovery, which, in turn, this year is closely linked to public health. The Covid pandemic is not over, there are uneven waves around the globe and strong inequality in the distribution of vaccines.
The G20 is studying promoting a group that makes the world more prepared for the new pandemics that, say scientists, are inevitable. It’s a good plan for the future, but the WHO (World Health Organization) now wants them to commit to immunizing poor countries.
In a letter signed by several international political personalities, including former Brazilian President Fernando Henrique Cardoso, former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown stated that G20 developed countries have stockpiled 240 million doses and suggested a concrete plan to redirect them globally .
Funds for these actions, as well as those that finance clean energy or economic recovery, come out of the same vault, and each member of the heterogeneous group pulls the sardine to what suits him best.
The meeting is not, in any case, a formal institution, and any positions do not have immediate practical consequences. Its importance is to signal where the political winds are blowing.
This year, the most watched direction will be the United States, as this is the first G20 summit in the post-Trump era, and President Joe Biden has as one of his catchphrases the importance of multilateralism.
There will be even more spotlights for the American leader because other stars on this global board, such as the leader of China, Xi Jinping, and the president of Russia, Vladimir Putin, will not be present. The Chinese government will be represented by its foreign minister, Wang Yi, and Xi, who has not traveled abroad since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, is expected to participate remotely.
As a platform for the new American foreign policy, which at least in theory is more multilateral, Biden is expected to announce the leaders’ support for the global minimum corporate tax, already sewn by economic ministers after years of discussion at the OECD.
Some announcements are also expected from the great powers regarding the climate crisis, as the G20 countries are responsible for 80% of global carbon dioxide emissions. Negotiations and definitions of concrete effect on this issue, however, are reserved for COP26, a UN conference that takes place right after the G20, in Glasgow, Scotland, where Biden will also go.
In Rome, according to the US government, the president’s other priorities should be energy prices and the reconnection and strengthening of supply chains, which directly affect Americans, particularly the working middle class.
This will be Biden’s second international trip, which he will use to meet Pope Francis this Friday (29) — the American leader is a practicing Catholic. The stay could also be an opportunity to ease the unease with French President Emmanuel Macron, created by negotiating a sale of submarines to Australia, which frustrated the French’s previous deal.
The forum for the prevention of future pandemics, an idea also presented by the US together with Indonesia, should have more space at the meeting of health and finance ministers, which is also taking place in Rome.
On the Brazilian side, reducing subsidies in sectors such as agriculture and livestock should be one of the priorities, according to Sarquis José Sarquis, secretary of Foreign Trade and Economic Affairs at the Itamaraty.
For him, some domestic support programs of large economies in the European Union and the US, China and India “end up distorting market conditions and artificially reducing prices, which makes countries competitive in food, such as Brazil and Argentina, not benefit from these markets.”
Although Brazil was one of the countries that opposed, at the World Trade Organization, the removal of intellectual property rights on vaccines, as requested by a group of more than one hundred nations, Sarquis stated that the government will defend “the universalization of access to vaccines, as public goods”, and investment in the production of immunization agents and pharmaceutical supplies in developing countries.
President Jair Bolsonaro will attend the meeting, as will the ministers of Economy, Paulo Guedes, and Foreign Affairs, Carlos França. The Brazilian leader arrives in Rome this Friday and meets Italian President Sergio Mattarella at the Palácio do Quirinal.
After participating in the summit, during the weekend, Bolsonaro should go on Monday (1) to the commune of Anguillara Vêneta, where his great-grandfather was born, to receive the title of honorary citizen. The following day, the schedule released by Itamaraty foresees the participation in a ceremony in memory of the Brazilian soldiers who died during combats in World War II, in Pistoia.
The annual G20 summits have been held since 2008 and bring together South Africa, Germany, Saudi Arabia, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, South Korea, USA, France, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, United Kingdom, Russia and Turkey.
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