Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva opened the G20 summit in Brazil by announcing a global alliance to address poverty and hunger.
In his opening remarks Monday, Lula emphasized that these challenges stem from political choices. He also urged world leaders to take decisive action, emphasizing that climate change has far-reaching impacts.
The initiative has been signed by 81 countries, including 18 of the 19 G20 countries, the European Union and the African Union. The only G20 country not to sign was Argentina, now led by far-right President Javier Millais.
Brazilian Foreign Ministry sources told AFP that some countries were trying to renegotiate the draft summit statement.
“For Brazil and other countries, the text has already been finalized, but some countries want to make certain things about war and climate public,” the source said.
Amid the war in the Middle East and Ukraine, the world’s major economies are gathering at the Museum of Modern Art in Rio de Janeiro on Monday and Tuesday, about two weeks after Donald Trump won the U.S. presidential election.
Brazil’s leftist president has used his hosting duties to promote issues close to his heart, including fighting hunger and climate change and taxing the wealthy.
However, the war that has deeply divided G20 members will also feature prominently in the discussion.
“Ukraine will not be on the official agenda,” said James Bays, Al Jazeera’s foreign affairs editor, reporting from Rio de Janeiro, noting that Ukraine was not one of the 19 guest countries invited to attend. “But it will be one of the key agenda items discussed in the margins of the meeting when all important business is completed.”
“The G20 is not a ‘friend of the United States.’ “There are countries that are competitors and enemies of the United States, including Russia itself,” Bays added.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has an international arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) on charges of war crimes in Ukraine, is the most notable absentee at the summit. attend President Putin was represented by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
US President Biden will attend the last G20 summit. His decision on Sunday to allow Ukraine to use long-range U.S. missiles against targets inside Russia was a significant policy shift that loomed from day one and could force European allies to reassess their positions.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry said such a move would fundamentally change the nature of the war and trigger an “appropriate and substantive” response from Moscow.
Professor Vinicius Rodrigues Vieira of the Armando Alvares Penteado Foundation said developing countries within the G20 would likely aim to keep the Russia-Ukraine war off the official agenda.
“They will not want any tension with Russia as they deal with the potential outcome that will be determined starting next year based on President Trump’s mediation,” he told Al Jazeera.
Climate talks halted
The gathering capped Biden’s farewell diplomatic trip that took him to Lima for the Asia-Pacific Trade Partners meeting and the first visit to the Amazon by a sitting U.S. president.
Biden, who has sought to burnish his own legacy as his presidency draws to a close, has argued in the Amazon that his climate record will survive another Trump term.
Trump has pledged to withdraw from the 2015 Paris climate change agreement, which aims to limit global warming this century to 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels.
G20 leaders are also under pressure to rescue U.N. climate talks in Azerbaijan, which are locked in the problem of larger climate funding for developing countries.
Delegates to the suspended COP29 climate change conference in Azerbaijan are deadlocked over how to raise $1 trillion a year to help developing countries combat climate change as rich countries want fast-developing economies like China and Gulf states. is expected to be broken by the G20. You may also put your hands in your pockets.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged G20 members, which account for 80% of global emissions, to show “leadership” to expedite negotiations.
Security is tight at the gathering, days after a suspected far-right extremist killed himself in a bomb attack on the Supreme Court in Brasilia.
Also at Monday’s summit, Chinese President Xi Jinping announced an initiative with Brazil, South Africa and the African Union to support science and technology innovation in the Southern Hemisphere, according to Chinese state media. This measure comes as the United States and its allies cooperate to halt exports of advanced semiconductors to China and Chinese technology companies, including Huawei, are forced out of the North American and European markets.
