G20 summit, Rome, Italy, 30 e 31 ottobre 2021

G20 summit family photo at the conference centre
COVID-19 frontline responders were invited to join the G20 leaders for a summit family photo

Main results

G20 leaders met for a two-day summit hosted by the Italian G20 presidency in Rome on 30 and 31 October 2021.

Charles Michel, President of the European Council, and Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, represented the EU.

At the end of the meeting, the G20 leaders adopted a G20 leaders’ declaration.

At the summit, the G20 leaders agreed to:

  • keep the goal of 1.5 degree global warming compared to pre-industrial levels within reach
  • accelerate their actions towards achieving global net zero greenhouse gas emissions or carbon neutrality by or around mid-century
  • reaffirm developed countries’ climate finance commitment to mobilise jointly $100 billion per year, and welcome new commitments by some G20 members 
  • implement the new rules for a more stable and fairer international tax system, including a 15% global minimum corporate tax, by 2023
  • advance efforts to ensure better and more timely access to COVID-19 vaccines in low- and middle-income countries
  • establish a G20 Joint Finance-Health Task Force to ensure adequate financing of pandemic prevention, preparedness and response

Economic recovery

The leaders noted that the global economy has recovered at a solid pace in 2021, thanks the roll-out of vaccines and continued policy support. However, recovery has been highly divergent across and within countries.

This is why the G20 remain determined to use all available tools for as long as required to address the adverse consequences of the pandemic, in particular on those most impacted, such as women, youth, and informal and low-skilled workers, and on inequalities.

We will continue to sustain the recovery, avoiding any premature withdrawal of support measures, while preserving financial stability and long-term fiscal sustainability and safeguarding against downside risks and negative spill-overs. G20 leaders’ declaration

The G20 will also remain vigilant to global economic challenges such as the disruption of supply chains.

COVID-19

To address enduring vaccination gaps, the G20 leaders committed to substantially increasing the provision of and access to vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics, with particular regard to the needs of low- and middle-income countries.

This should enable progress towards the goal of vaccinating at least 40% of the population in all countries by the end of 2021 and 70% by mid-2022, as recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO).

Ensuring swift and equitable vaccine distribution worldwide will involve strengthening supply chains, expanding and diversifying manufacturing capacity, promoting vaccine acceptance and confidence, and fighting disinformation.

The G20 leaders also reaffirmed their commitment to the Rome Declaration, adopted at the Global Health Summit in May, as a “compass for collective action”.

Illustrazione: 10 incentivi e benefici di un trattato internazionale sulle pandemie

Pandemic prevention, preparedness and response (PPR)

To provide adequate, sustainable and better coordinated financing of pandemic PPR, the G20 leaders established a G20 Joint Finance-Health Task Force.

The task force will work out by early 2022 modalities to establish a financial facility, to be coordinated by the WHO, to enhance global financing for pandemic PPR.

The creation of the task force was proposed by G20 health and finance ministers on the eve of the summit.

The leaders also noted that strengthening pandemic PPR may involve an international instrument or agreement in the context of the World Health Organization.

Ahead of the summit, President Michel had stressed the benefits of an international treaty on pandemics.

The principle of an international treaty on pandemics rooted in the World Health Organization’s constitution will be the subject of a special World Health Assembly in November. We believe that such a treaty will be the best instrument to improve global pandemic preparedness and response. Charles Michel, President of the European Council

Illustrazione: l'UE e l'accordo di Parigi.

Climate and energy

The G20 leaders pledged to work collectively to achieve a successful UN climate conference (COP26), which started in Glasgow, UK, back-to-back with the G20 summit.

They reaffirmed their commitment to the full and effective implementation of the United Nations climate convention (UNFCCC) and the Paris Agreement.

The G20 leaders noted that keeping the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees compared to pre-industrial levels within reach will require meaningful and effective actions and commitment by all countries, taking into account different approaches.

The G20 will accelerate their actions across mitigation, adaptation and finance, acknowledging the key relevance of achieving global net zero greenhouse gas emissions or carbon neutrality by or around mid-century.

The leaders also committed to taking further action this decade and to formulate, implement, update and enhance, where necessary, their 2030 nationally determined contributions (NDCs).

The leaders recalled and reaffirmed the climate finance commitment made by developed countries to mobilise jointly $100 billion per year by 2020 and through 2025 to support developing countries in reducing their greenhouse gas emissions and mitigating and adapting to the adverse impacts of climate change.

They also welcomed the new commitments made by some G20 members to each increase and improve their overall international public climate finance contributions through to 2025; they look forward to new commitments from others.

The leaders reaffirmed their 2009 commitment to phase out and rationalise, over the medium term, inefficient fossil fuel subsidies that encourage wasteful consumption.

They committed to stopping international public finance for new unabated coal power generation abroad by the end of 2021.

The G20 leaders stressed their commitment to maintaining energy security while addressing climate change, and guaranteeing energy system transitions that keep energy affordable for the most vulnerable households and businesses.

They also emphasised the importance of maintaining undisrupted flows of energy from various sources, suppliers and routes, and promoting open, competitive and free international energy markets.

Biodiversity and environment

The G20 leaders committed to strengthening actions to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030.

They will strive to ensure that at least 30 % of global land and at least 30 % of the global ocean and seas are conserved or protected by 2030, and will help to make progress towards this objective in accordance with national circumstances.

The leaders urged other countries to join forces with the G20 to reach the aspirational goal of planting 1 trillion trees by 2030, with the involvement of the private sector and civil society.

Sustainable development

The G20 leaders expressed their deep concern about the impact of the COVID-19 crisis especially in developing countries. They reaffirmed their commitment to a global response to accelerate progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals and to support a sustainable, inclusive and resilient recovery across the world.

The leaders pledged to strengthen their actions to implement the G20 Action Plan on the 2030 Agenda and the G20 Support to COVID-19 Response and Recovery in developing countries. They also reaffirmed their continued support for African countries through a range of initiatives such as the G20 Compact with Africa.

The leaders welcomed the new general allocation of Special Drawing Rights (SDR), which has made available the equivalent of $650 billion in additional reserves globally. The G20 will be working on options for magnifying its impact through the voluntary channelling of part of the allocated SDRs to help vulnerable countries.

The G20 leaders called on the International Monetary Fund to establish a new Resilience and Sustainability Trust (RST) to provide affordable long-term financing for low-income countries, including in the African continent, small island developing states, and vulnerable middle-income countries.

The leaders welcomed the progress achieved under G20 Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI), which is estimated to enable the deferral of at least $12.7 billion of total debt service between May 2020 and December 2021, benefitting 50 countries.

Summit agenda

The summit discussions were organised into three main working sessions and two leaders’ side events.

Working sessions

  • Session I: “Global economy and global health”
  • Session II: “Climate change and environment”
  • Session III: “Sustainable development”

Leaders’ side events

  • “Supporting SMEs and women-owned businesses to bounce back better”
  • “The role of the private sector in the fight against climate change”

Bilateral meetings of President Michel

In the margins of the summit, President Michel held a number of bilateral meetings with other world leaders:

  • Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India
  • Lee Hsien Loong, Prime Minister of Singapore
  • Paul Kagame, President of Rwanda and NEPAD Chairperson
  • Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization
  • Alberto Fernández, President of Argentina
  • Scott Morrison, Prime Minister of Australia
  • Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany
  • Joko Widodo, Prime Minister of Indonesia
  • Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, President of Turkey

President Michel and President von der Leyen also participated in an informal meeting of EU and African Union leaders present at the summit, which was hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron.

Background

About the Italian G20 presidency

The Italian presidency’s overarching theme this year has encompassed the three pillars “people, planet, prosperity”. This theme is reflected in the three working sessions at the Rome summit.

About the G20

The G20 members are Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the Republic of Korea, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United States and the European Union.

Spain is a permanent guest. The Italian G20 presidency invited seven additional leaders as guests to the summit, including the prime minister of the Netherlands.

Previous summits

The previous G20 summit, in 2020, was held via video conference owing to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The last physical G20 summit took place in Osaka, Japan, in 2019.