The leaders of the world’s economic powers participated in the first in-person summit since the coronavirus pandemic on Saturday, with climate change, the economic recovery from COVID-19 and the global minimum corporate tax rate on the agenda.
Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi welcomed the heads of state of the Group of 20 to the cloud-like Nuvola convention center in the fascist-era EUR neighborhood, which was isolated from the rest of the capital. Saturday’s opening session focused on global health and the economy, with a meeting on the sidelines between US President Joe Biden, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson to discuss the upcoming steps in Iran’s nuclear program.
Host leader Draghi opened the forum with a strong call to redouble efforts to bring vaccines to the least prosperous countries in the world.
Draghi stressed that while 70% of people in rich countries have been vaccinated, only 3% in poorer countries have been vaccinated, calling it “morally unacceptable.”
Draghi urged a new commitment to multilateral cooperation: “The further we advance with all our challenges, the clearer it is that multilateralism is the best answer to the problems we face today,” he said. “In many ways, it is the only possible answer.”
Italy expects the G-20 to secure key commitments from countries that account for 80% of the world economy, and responsible for roughly the same amount of global carbon emissions, ahead of the UN climate conference that begins Sunday in Glasgow, Scotland.
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Most heads of state and government in Rome will head to Glasgow as soon as the G-20 ends. Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping are participating remotely.
On the eve of the meeting, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that the Glasgow meeting risked failing in the still lukewarm commitments of the big polluters and challenged the G-20 leaders to exceed “dangerous levels.” of mistrust “among themselves and with developing countries. nations.
“Let’s be clear: there is a serious risk that Glasgow will not comply,” Guterres told reporters in Rome.
A recent UN environmental report concluded that announcements by dozens of countries to target “net zero” emissions by 2050 could, if fully implemented, limit the global temperature rise to 2.2 degrees Celsius (4 F). . That’s closer to, but still above, the less stringent goal agreed in the Paris climate agreement of keeping temperature rise well below 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 F) compared to pre-industrial times.
The UN chief also blamed geopolitical divisions for hampering a global vaccination plan to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, saying the action “has taken a back seat to vaccine hoarding and vaccine nationalism. “.
# The G20 opens with a call for more #vaccines for poor countries. # COVID-19
However, the G-20 will likely be a conclusion of an agreement, on a global minimum corporate tax. G-20 leaders are expected to formally affirm their commitment to setting a global minimum corporate tax rate of 15% by 2023, a measure aimed at preventing multinational companies from racking up profits in countries where they pay little or no taxes.
The move has been hailed by White House officials as a “game changer” that would generate at least $ 60 billion in new revenue a year in the US, a cash flow that could help partially pay for a nearly $ 3 trillion infrastructure and social services package. looking for President Joe Biden. Adoption in the United States is key because many multinational companies are based there.
But Biden is struggling to come to terms with members of his own party on what will go into the massive spending plan, not to mention how it will be paid for. The president’s struggles to reach an agreement on US legislation were not expected to be a central part of Biden’s talks with other leaders, White House officials said.
Biden is also expected to raise concerns about an imbalance in supply and demand in global energy markets, according to a senior administration official who briefed reporters on the condition of anonymity. The official said Biden would underscore the importance of finding greater stability in the oil and gas markets, for the sake of a global economy that has been badly hit by the coronavirus pandemic. Oil prices in the United States are near 7-year highs.
The summit could be an opportunity for dialogue because it includes delegations from the main energy producers Saudi Arabia and Russia, the main consumers from Europe and China, and the United States, which are both. So far, Saudi-led OPEC and its allies, including Russia, dubbed OPEC +, have ignored Biden’s pleas to increase production faster than its current rate of 400,000 barrels per day every month until next year.
Reference-www.nationalobserver.com