Social movements and organized civil society entities gathered in the G20 Social propose to the bloc’s top leaders the reform of the United Nations (UN), the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the taxation of the great fortunes of the world’s super-rich .
The systematized proposals, defined by consensus among participants, will be delivered to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who will pass on the demands to the leaders of the G20, a group that brings together the 19 largest economies on the planet, plus the European Union and the African Union.
One of the plenary sessions held this Friday (15) discussed the taxation of the super-rich. The proposed proposal defends “the taxation of the super-rich, as individuals and legal entities, equally in all countries with the guarantee that the resources collected are allocated to a fund to finance social, environmental and cultural policies with progressive criteria, thus ensuring a fairer distribution”.
The text may still undergo modifications before the final document.
The vice-president of the Central Única dos Trabalhadores (CUT) of Rio de Janeiro, banker Adriana Nalesso, highlighted that the objective is to improve social justice through taxation of the super-rich.
“The idea is to increase the collection so that, in fact, it goes back to society for investments in public and social policies. The debate to prepare the text was super rich. There were representatives from universities, social movements and workers. It was very important because we are building together”, he said.
A group of representatives from entities and social movements discussed this Friday the proposal for global governance reform. “We demand the necessary and urgent reform of the current model of global governance, which has already proven incapable of offering answers to contemporary challenges”, says the text.
The proposal asks international organizations to reflect “contemporary geopolitical reality”, with increased participation by countries from the Global South, which is the term used to refer to poor or emerging countries that, for the most part, are in the Southern Hemisphere of the planet. .
The proposal argues that it is necessary to consider “the diversity of global voices”, and also adds the need to change the decision-making model of the IMF and the World Bank to “reflect the economic importance of the Global South”.
G20 Social
The representative of think thank you InterAgency Institute Raquel Castilho da Silva, who works with foreign relations policies, praised the Brazilian presidency’s initiative at the G20 to create the G20 Social to bring society closer to the bloc’s summit.
“We here have a unique opportunity to make a difference from many perspectives, whether in terms of being able to speak, but also listening and understanding what our leaders are doing. There are 35 thousand people here. The G20 Social must be here to stay. us hopes for South Africa to maintain. Having the opportunity to influence a text, a proposal, makes a difference”, he highlighted.
South Africa will be the president of the G20 from next week, when Brazil finishes its work at the head of the bloc.
A third proposal for global governance reform approved at the G20 Social calls for the expansion of social participation in international organizations “to give legitimacy and effectiveness” to multilateral institutions. The group also calls for historically underrepresented civil society to have strength in multilateral decisions.
The debates and agreements signed during the G20 leaders’ summit do not have mandatory power. It is up to each country to implement internally what has been defined or not. Still, the bloc’s decisions are seen as signs of policies that governments intend to build.
