By Salif Atojoko

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva of Brazil on Tuesday said that the G20 members had the power and responsibility to transform many lives across the world.

Da Silva said this during the closing ceremony of the 19th G20 Leaders Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. 

He enjoined members to foster entrepreneurship and economic autonomy for women, as championed by the Women’s Empowerment Working Group.

For traditional and Indigenous peoples, he said the G20 members must promote biodiversity-based products through the Bioeconomy Initiative.

He also said the member countries must adopt Sustainable Development Goal 18 on racial equality, as advocated by the Working Group on the Right to Development for people of African descent.

He urged the G20 members to foster climate ambition, in line with the goal of limiting global warming to one point five degrees Celsius, as pursued by the Climate Task Force.

Da Silva said that over the course of this year, the group gained a third pillar – the social pillar – which was added to the political and financial pillars.

“This is where the collective will and expression take shape, motivated by the quest for a more democratic, just and diverse world.

“The engagement groups achieved an unprecedented level of interaction with chancellors, finance ministers and central bank presidents from the world’s largest economies,” he said.

He said that for the first time in the history of the G20, civil societies from various parts of the world — in its most diverse forms of organisation — met to formulate and present their demands to the Leaders’ Summit.

According to him, over the 16 years since the inaugural Summit, the G20 has established itself as the premier forum for global economic cooperation and a vital platform for political dialogue.

However, he said the economy and international politics were not a monopoly of experts or bureaucrats.

“They are not only in the offices of the New York Stock Exchange or the São Paulo Stock Exchange, nor only in the offices in Washington, Beijing, Brussels or Brasília.

“They are part of the daily lives of each one of us, expanding or narrowing our possibilities,” he said.

He stated that the Brazilian presidency would not have made progress on the three priorities it chose if it were not for the decisive participation of the organisations and movements that made up the G20 Social.

“Your permanent mobilisation will be essential to drive forward the work of the Global Alliance against Hunger and Poverty and advance on the taxation of the super-rich.

“This will ensure compliance with the goals of tripling the use of renewable energy and achieving emissions neutrality earlier, and advance our Call to Action on Global Governance Reform, ensuring that multilateral institutions are more representative,” he said.

He said the Brazilian presidency of the G20 would leave a robust legacy of achievements, but that there was still much to be done to improve people’s lives.

To reach the hearts of ordinary citizens, he said governments needed to break off the growing dissonance between the “voice of the markets” and the “voice of the streets”.

“Neoliberalism has worsened the economic and political inequality that currently plagues democracies.

“The G20 must discuss a series of measures to reduce the cost of living and promote more balanced working hours.

“It must listen to the youth, who will face the consequences of the tasks we leave unfinished.

“We must preserve public space so as to prevent extremism from  threatening rights or leading to setbacks,” said Da Silva.

He emphasised the need for nations to commit to peace so that geopolitical rivalries and conflicts did not divert them from the path of sustainable development.

“I will take the recommendations contained in the final declaration which you gave me to the other G20 leaders and work with South Africa to ensure that they are considered in the group’s discussions.

“I hope that this social pillar of the G20 will continue in the coming years, increasingly opening our discussions to citizen engagement.

“This closing ceremony marks the beginning of a new phase which will require continuous work — 365 days a year — and not just on the eve of leaders’ meetings,” he said. (NAN) (www.nannews.ng)

Edited by Ephraim Sheyin