President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva met, this Sunday (17), in Rio de Janeiro, with the president of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa, who will assume the presidency of the G20 after the leaders’ summit, which takes place next week . It was Lula’s first meeting this Sunday, who has a list of 11 bilateral meetings with global leaders who are in the country for the high-level meeting.
Lula and Ramaphosa discussed the G20 Social, financing environmental preservation and taxing the super-rich. This year, Brazil is the president of the G20, a group of the 19 largest economies in the world, plus the European Union and the African Union.
“The South African president assured that he must continue Brazil’s work in the G20. And Brazil made itself available to South Africa to transfer all Brazilian experience in the presidency of the G20”, says Palácio do Planalto, in a statement.
“The first bilateral meeting of the day was with President Cyril Ramaphosa, of South Africa. I told him about the work to hold the G20 Social and the importance of this event inaugurated by Brazil. We also talked about financing the preservation of forests discussed in environmental forums and about taxing 2% of the 3,000 richest people, an important step towards ensuring a fairer and less unequal world”, wrote Lula in a post on social media.
The G20 Social began on Wednesday (14) and ended this Saturday (16). This is an innovation instituted by the Brazilian government in the G20 to expand dialogue between government leaders and civil society. In previous presidencies, social organizations used to come together in initiatives parallel to the official program. With the G20 Social, these meetings were integrated into the agenda created by Brazil.
Lula asked Ramaphosa that South Africa continue with this practice inaugurated by the Brazilian presidency. In his final statement, the G20 Social puts pressure on governments of the group’s countries to adopt measures with more ambitious objectives to combat climate change and inequalities.
The three central themes defended by the Brazilian presidency at the G20 are the fight against hunger, poverty and inequality; sustainability, climate change and fair energy transition; and global governance reform.
About taxation of the super richBrazil’s proposal is for a minimum tax of 2% on the income of the world’s billionaires, which would raise between US$200 billion and US$250 billion annually. The taxation would affect only 3,000 individuals across the planet, of which around 100 in Latin America. In Brazil, the measure would help finance sustainable development and reduce inequality, raising R$41.9 billion per year.
Also according to the statement, Lula and Ramaphosa talked about resuming meetings of IBSA, a group that brings together India, Brazil and South Africa, “three democracies from different continents of the Global South”. In 2025, Brazil will also assume the presidency of BRICS, a group of emerging countries founded by Brazil, Russia, India and China and whose members include South Africa and other nations.
The meeting was attended by the ministers of Foreign Affairs, Mauro Vieira, of Finance, Fernando Haddad, of Agriculture, Carlos Fávaro, and of Management and Innovation, Esther Dweck. The special advisor, Celso Amorim, and the executive secretary of the Ministry of Development and Industry, Márcio Elias Rosa, also participated.
