The countries that make up the G20 (Group of 20, which brings together the world’s largest economies) must ensure space in their budgets to implement public policies proposed by civil society. The statement by the Minister of the General Secretariat of the Presidency of the Republic, Márcio Macêdo, was made this Tuesday (20), during a preparatory event for the G20 Social, at Fundição Progresso, an independent cultural space in downtown Rio de Janeiro.
The G20 Social is a space for discussions and participation of civil society created by Brazil, which assumed the presidency of the group of countries in December of last year. Over the last few months, engagement groups and sectors of society have been articulating initiatives to become public policies.
More than a thousand popular representatives participated in the meeting, the first platform open to the active participation of the population in the G20.
The conclusions of the preparatory event will serve as a basis for the G20 Social meetings, which will take place from November 14 to 16 in Rio de Janeiro. The findings of the forum will be presented to the heads of state and government who will participate in the G20 leaders’ meeting on November 18 and 19, also in Rio.
“This debate needs to be free and sovereign,” the minister told reporters. “We are going to turn this into a document. It is obvious that these documents are proposals. The process of dialogue with governments, of pressure, of conversation, so that this becomes public policy continues,” he added.
Macêdo pointed out that issues such as taxation of the super-richnew global governance and the challenges of climate change are themes that permeate discussions both in governments and in the G20 Social.
“Not only Brazil, but countries must be open to guaranteeing the budget so that this can happen, not only in Brazil but in economies around the world,” he said.
The Brazilian government chose three priority themes for discussions at the G20: combating hunger, poverty and inequality; sustainability, climate change and just transition; and reforming global governance.
Macêdo highlighted that the Brazilian presidency of the G20 will be marked by the unprecedented nature of social participation.
“The photograph that comes to my mind whenever I talk about the G20 is a portrait of men in ties in a room, defining the policies that will affect populations around the world, and the people 5 kilometers away, some represented with posters, demonstrating,” he said.
“Now, we want photography to be a way for people to participate in this process of building public policies that will reach the populations of the 20 economies and the entire world,” he explained.
Energy transition
The Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Marina Silva, emphasized that the energy transition to an economy less dependent on fossil fuels, which cause global warming, must be done in a fair way.
“There are those [economias] that have issued more historically, there are those [países] who gained more by transforming nature into money and there are those who emitted less and who still have very serious social problems to be faced”, he listed.
For the minister, the richest countries should make the transition first and then help the poorest. “Lower-middle-income countries have to be helped.” About US$100 billion (around R$550 billion) would be needed worldwide, according to her.
Marina Silva argued that the energy transition should rely on resources obtained from taxing the super-rich and from corporate money.
“The private sector cannot continue any longer, and there are many people who have already understood this, making the same investments in activities with a very high potential to destroy the planet,” he criticized.
The minister highlighted that Brazil has the comparative advantage of having solar, wind and biomass energy and producing green hydrogen, which can be an export product to help other countries transition.
Asked by journalists whether oil exploration on the Equatorial Margin compromises Brazil’s global leadership in the environmental area, she stated that the decision will be made on a technical basis.
“If you say yes, it will be technical; if you say no, it will be a technical decision, because in a republican government there is no interference that was attempted in the previous government in Ibama’s decision. [Instituto Brasileiro do Meio Ambiente e dos Recursos Naturais Renováveis]”, he stated.
The Equatorial Margin, known as the new “pre-salt” because of its potential for oil production, is an area that stretches from the coast of Rio Grande do Norte to the coast of Amapá. Potential oil exploration in the region, which includes the mouth of the Amazon River, has been criticized by environmentalists, who are concerned about possible environmental damage.
Petrobras is interested in drilling the seabed, but it depends on receiving authorization from Ibama.
Fight against hunger
The third minister present at the meeting with social leaders, Wellington Dias, from Development and Social Assistance, Family and Fight Against Hunger, recalled Brazil’s leading role in the fight against hunger, highlighting the creation of the Global Allianceendorsed by the G20 less than a month ago.
“There is no social task as powerful and as important as this one”, said the minister, who cited advances of the country in the fight against hunger recognized by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
Civil society
The president of the Central Única das Favelas (Cufa) in Rio de Janeiro, Preto Zezé, highlighted popular participation in the G20 Social, citing that 20 million people live in communities.
“It is essential that people who experience Brazil’s dilemmas and challenges, such as inequality, human rights and environmental issues, can participate, be heard and have their ideas reach the hands of managers,” he stressed. Zezé also asked that the practice become permanent even under other G20 presidencies.
Recalling that only three Latin American countries are part of the G20 (Argentina and Mexico, in addition to Brazil), the representative of the Central Única dos Trabalhadores (CUT), Antonio Lisboa, reported that he receives requests from workers in other countries in the region so that the decisions taken also benefit populations outside the G20.
Preto Zezé, president of Cufa, speaks at the preparatory meeting for the G20 Social Summit, in Rio Photo – Tania Rêgo/Agency Brazil
“Our responsibility has to go beyond our countries, beyond our problems, to the whole world,” he said.
The member of the executive board of the Brazilian Association of NGOs (Abong), Débora Rodrigues, explains that this is a time for coordination between grassroots communities and the G20.
“This is the moment when we think about how we will continue, but we will return to our territories, organize the group so that we can return in November,” he explained.
Platform online
This Tuesday the platform was launched online G20 Social Participation. Through the internet, people from anywhere in Brazil and the world will be able to participate in surveys, send proposals, register self-managed proposals and public consultations.
Individuals, social movements, civil society organizations and governments from around the world can submit proposals until September 9th.
“The goal is that by September 9, we will aggregate the proposals from civil society organizations and also the activity proposals for the Social Summit,” explains the Secretary of Social Participation of the Presidency of the Republic, Renato Simões.
The federal government’s Communications Secretariat (Secom) also announced that the G20 communication channel, which provides information, news and services about the events, will have content available in indigenous languages, such as Guarani. The initiative is part of the strategy to call for “great collaborative communication.”
“So that the G20 narrative is strengthened by the narrative of social movements,” said Marcelo Branco, representative of Secom.
Representatives of the World March of Women, the Landless Workers’ Movement (MST) and the black movement organization UneAfro also participated in the opening of the meeting.
Discussion panels addressed the topics considered a priority by Brazil at the G20.
The G20
The Brazilian presidency of the G20 will run until the November summit. The G20 is made up of 19 countries: South Africa, Germany, Saudi Arabia, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, South Korea, the United States, France, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the United Kingdom, Russia and Turkey, and two regional bodies: the African Union and the European Union.
The group’s members represent about 85% of the world economy, more than 75% of global trade and about two-thirds of the world’s population. The group’s next presidency will be held by South Africa.
