The minister of the General Secretariat of the Presidency of the Republic, Márcio Macêdo, reinforced this Thursday (7) the importance of civil society participation in discussions at the G20 summit, to be held this month, in Rio de Janeiro. Macedo highlighted that Brazil’s decision to create a third track for the group, the G20 Social, is a way of listening to society’s concerns about the topics debated by heads of state, ministers and other authorities.
He informed that one of the proposals that will appear in the final report, which will be delivered to President Lula, will deal with the taxation of the super-rich. According to Macêdo, the 2% global tax will impact only three thousand people around the world, who hold around 15 trillion dollars in wealth. According to the proposal, the proceeds would be used to combat hunger and poverty and also to combat climate change.
“The heads of state are going to define public policies that will affect all populations in the world and the population does not participate in this process?” asked Macedo during an interview with the program Good morning, Minister of Gov Channel from the Brazilian Communication Company (EBC). “So, the G20 Social says: come, so the people can contribute to this process”, he added.
G20 Social
The G20 Social was created by decision of Brazil, which holds the rotating presidency of the group. The G20 Social Summit will be held from November 14th to 16th, in the capital of Rio de Janeiro, and precedes the meeting of leaders of the largest economies in the world, which takes place on the 18th and 19th. The intention is to increase the participation of non-governmental actors in group activities and decision-making processes.
“President Lula is calling on the people to participate in this process. The big picture of the G20 will be social participation”, highlighted the minister. “It will be a very rich environment of plurality”, he added.
According to Macêdo, the debates will revolve around three major themes: the fight against hunger, poverty and inequality; sustainable development (including the debate on climate change and fair energy transition) and global governance reform.
More than 200 self-managed activities are planned that bring together the different voices, struggles and demands of populations and non-governmental agents. In addition, there will be a space where 150 stalls will integrate the program with products such as food, crafts, publications and services.
The minister highlighted that civil society collaborations will form a summary document that will be delivered to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who will take him to the G20 meeting with world leaders.
“At the end there will be a summary document with the vision of the people and the organized social movement that will be delivered to President Lula and then forwarded to the heads of state of the G20 on the themes that are being proposed at the G20”, stated Macêdo, informing that the intention is that these contributions are incorporated into the summit’s Leaders’ Declaration.
South Africa
During the interview, Macedo also revealed that the G20 Social will be maintained at the group’s next summit, which will take place in South Africa in 2025. “Our wish, our hope is that the G20 will never happen again without the participation of the people” , celebrated.
The G20 Social Summit was organized, throughout 2024, in 13 engagement groups, social and popular movements, which produced documents with propositions that will be debated during the three days of the meeting.
Accreditation
The G20 Social Summit can be visited and attended by anyone. Accreditation for the general population remains open until the 12th, via the page G20 Brazil 2024. To register, simply fill in your full name, email, CPF or passport and some other personal details.
Schedule
The summit will open at 2pm on the 14th, with the presence of minister Márcio Macêdo, from the General Secretariat of the Presidency of the Republic; First Lady Janja da Silva; Ambassador Mauro Vieira, Minister of Foreign Affairs; Fernando Haddad, Minister of Finance; by Margareth Menezes, Minister of Culture; Morgan Ody, representative of the International Civil Society; and Edna Rolland, representative of the Brazilian Civil Society.
The second day of the G20 Social, November 15th, will be dedicated to three plenary sessions to discuss the three axes proposed by the Brazilian presidency to the G20: Fighting hunger and inequalities; climate change and sustainability; and new global governance.
On the 16th, G20 Social participants will be able to hear the reading of the final text of the document to be delivered to President Lula, during the closing ceremony. According to Macedo, the idea is for the text to be read by several representatives of civil society, and participants to applaud the content produced throughout the entire G20 Social process. The full summit schedule can be accessed here.
