On November 19-20th, Brazil hosted the 19th G20 summit of world leaders, and the motto for the summit was “Building a Just World and a Sustainable Planet.” Despite the lack of attention it gets, the G20 is the most realistic representation of today’s world and serves as a forum for getting countries to come to the table. 

The G20, or the Group of Twenty, is an informal group of the world’s 20th largest economies that first convened in 2008. The members are Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Türkiye, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Spain is a permanent guest, and the European Union and African Union are members of the group as well. 

Initially, the group convened to coordinate monetary and fiscal policy during the 2008-09 recession. However, its agenda has expanded to include discussions on global health, climate change, and other pressing global challenges. 

One of the G20’s strengths is that it is the most realistic representation of the countries in the world that can shape events globally and regionally. 

While the G20 gives more representation to the Global South than the G7, only a few countries within the Global South have influence. The Global South is a highly diverse group that includes emerging powers like Brazil and India as well as small states like Benin and Fiji. Given this reality, it should come as no surprise that the West cares more about Brazil’s and Indonesia’s opinions than Nepal’s or the Central African Republic’s. Moreover, it is crucial to note that just because a few countries from the Global South are in the G20 does not necessarily mean that these countries represent the collective interests of the Global South. 

Likewise, while Luxembourg and Switzerland have the world’s highest GDP per capita and a human development index higher than the United States, their ability to shape global events is minimal. Consequently, it should also come as no surprise that countries in the Global South care more about the opinion of Washington and Paris than Bern. 

Another reason this group is the most realistic representation of the world is that it brings together countries from the Western bloc, the Russia/China bloc, and the nonaligned bloc. Given its informal nature, “it can help shake up a sometimes rigid geopolitical order.” Thus, the G20 is the “Goldilocks” between the G7 and BRICS.

The G7 (Group of Seven) comprises Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States. (Russia used to be a member, making it the G8, but it was expelled after annexing Crimea in 2014.) However, one of the biggest problems with the G7 is that it does not represent the Global South. 

On the other hand, BRICS consists of Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Iran, Ethiopia, and the United Arab Emirates. One of the main goals of BRICS is to provide an alternative to the G7, the IMF, and the World Bank. However, some of the main criticisms of BRICS are the perception of being ‘anti-West’ and sidelining human rights. 

In an era of rising tensions between the United States and Russia/China and the growing bridge between the Global North and the Global South, the G20 is one of the few remaining international forums for these camps to come to the table. 

Factors such as the veto power of the P5 in the UN Security Council, the non-binding nature of any resolutions passed through the General Assembly, and the election of the worst human rights abusers in the UN Human Rights Council have led to countries viewing the United Nations as ineffective for resolving any global challenge. Other multilateral organizations such as BRICS, NATO, and the SCO do more to create geopolitical blocs than to reduce them. 

As a result, the G20 has been a venue for various countries to come to the table. Often, in these G20 summits, world leaders meet on the sidelines, such as American President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping meeting at the 2022 Indonesia Summit. During the 2023 India summit, meetings on the sidelines led to the creation of the India-Europe-Middle East Economic Corridor. 

As with any multilateral forum, the G20 has its problems. However, it does hold weight since it represents about 85% of the world’s GDP and around two-thirds of the global population.