Hopeful of Joint G20 Communique at September 2023 Summit: Amitabh Kant
Building a resilient, sustainable, and inclusive world has been the objective of the Indian Presidency, which aims to bring the G20 together as a problem-solving body for cascading and interconnected problems.
Amitabh Kant, India’s G20 Sherpa, hopes that a consensus will be reached on the language concerning the conflict in Ukraine when the Heads of the G20 Countries descend in New Delhi on September 9–10 to advance the Indian Presidency’s key deliverables, including sustainable development goals, green development, MDB reforms, and digital public infrastructure.
Amitabh Kant, India’s G20 Sherpa, tells FE’s Prasanta Sahu that among the urgent issues, India has stressed the need for developing nations to get $5.8–5.9 trillion in climate money—edited snippets.
The sectoral sessions are almost completed before the G20 Leaders’ Summit next month. Could you list the main products India aims for and their current status? Building a resilient, sustainable, and inclusive world has been the objective of the Indian Presidency, which aims to bring the G20 together as a problem-solving body for cascading and interconnected problems.
This distinct perspective allowed working groups inside the entire government to take a cross-cutting approach. We have six priority buckets, across which all the outcomes are being agreed upon, in keeping with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s goal of establishing an ambitious, inclusive, decisive, and action-oriented president.
These include technological transformation and digital public infrastructure, gender equality and the empowerment of women, and accelerating progress on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). They also include multilateral institutions for the twenty-first Century.
The Development Ministerial endorsed LiFEstyles for Sustainable Development (LiFE), components of green development.
We have agreed on various subjects, such as the Deccan High-Level Principles for enhancing food security, the Blue Economy High-Level Principles, catastrophe risk reduction, the green hydrogen ecosystem, and alternative energy. At the pertinent WGs in the finance and Sherpa tracks, ambitious renewable energy objectives and mobilizing sufficient climate money are being debated.
The Indian Presidency has spoken out against the reversal of SDG progress, and we are committed to pressuring the international community to fulfil these goals. The 2023 Action Plan on Accelerating Progress on SDGs, which will undoubtedly clear the way for our interrelated targets, was endorsed by the G20 development ministers following our top priority.
We have a broader consensus from all the nations for our priority of gender equality and empowering all women and girls. This includes an Action Plan on Sustainable Development via gender equality and women empowerment, reducing the gender pay gap, and halving the digital gender gap, among other things.
In due order, we want to agree on our significant commitments related to Building Cities of Tomorrow, One Health, Global Digital Health Initiative, and Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI). In collaboration with our G20 member nations, India’s G20 presidency aims to scale the solutions of our innovation and development.
All of the G20 members, especially the developing nations of the Global South, acknowledge and support India’s answers to our issues and attempts to build agreement on ambitious goals.
What may cause the slow progress in providing debt-stressed nations like Sri Lanka with more immediate relief?
The IMF reports that as of June 2023, 11 countries are in debt distress, 25 countries are in high danger, 26 are at moderate risk, and seven are at low risk, highlighting the deteriorating situation of debt distress in the Global South. However, when global development slows, this figure might get worse.
The G20 is putting together a global debt picture as one of the results of the finance track. By assisting Sri Lanka with an expanded line of credit that enabled them to win an IMF bailout and put them on track for a debt restructuring shortly, India has already set an example for other countries to follow.
The Common Framework of the G20 has also assisted in directing the debt restructuring process in Zambia. We are dedicated to improving this framework at the G20, and doing so would hasten the process of providing faster assistance to debt-strapped nations like Sri Lanka.
There is little hope that wealthy countries would increase their financing for MDBs or emerging economies in light of their unfulfilled $100 billion climate funding commitment to poor nations.
Under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), this commitment was made in 2009, with a target date 2020.
However, the actual allocation of funding needs to catch up to this goal, raising doubts about affluent countries’ readiness to commit funds to aid mitigation and adaptation activities in poor economies.
To create a new global climate finance objective by 2025, this deadline was then extended to 2025.
The pledges made thus far on climate funding have proven to be empty, as Prime Minister Modi stressed at COP21. The world’s objectives for climate funding can differ from what they were at the time of the Paris Agreement, even as we are all upping our goals for climate action.
We want to set an ambitious, transparent, and trackable New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG) of climate finance in 2024, starting from a floor of USD 100 billion annually, taking into account the needs and priorities of developing countries in achieving the UNFCCC’s goal and putting the Paris Agreement into effect. This is part of our G20 efforts.
To contrast the actual demand for climate financing, which now stands at trillions of dollars, with the commitment to support just billions, we are closely collaborating with the G20 nations.
We have emphasized that developing nations would need USD 5.8–5.9 trillion in the years before 2030, particularly for the demands of implementing their NDCs by that date.
We know that emerging nations like India will need increased financing for adaptation. The industrialized countries have also been asked to follow through on their pledge to at least double their collective allocation of adaptation money from 2019 levels by 2025.
We have vehemently advocated for a significant increase in the capital base and concessional financing from MDBs to developing countries towards climate action and building better MDBs with enhanced vision, operating models, and financial capacity as part of our priority of MDB reforms for the 21st Century.
According to the expert committee on MDBs that the Indian Presidency formed, an additional $3 trillion is needed annually to support the SDGs and other developing concerns. How much extra yearly money is required for India to achieve these goals?
It is vital to remember that the Global South is particularly susceptible to the consequences of climate change. The mitigation and adaptation efforts need to be balanced.
By enhancing nations’ capacity to prepare for severe weather, the UN has unveiled a $3.1 billion plan to provide early warning systems to everyone within the next five years. By attempting to commit to at least tripling the collective provision of adaptation funding from 2019 levels by 2025, the administration is also trying to secure an agreement on this issue.
According to our prior NDCs, we projected a $2 trillion US funding gap between 2015 and 2030, or around $170 billion per year, for climate action. While setting ambitious NDC objectives, India is moving its efforts towards combating climate change forward after accomplishing its First NDC nine years ahead of schedule.
India has committed to reducing its GDP’s emissions intensity by 45% by 2030. Furthermore, by 2030, we want to generate around 50% of the existing electric power capacity from sources other than fossil fuels.
We are committed to leveraging public and private finances to advance climate and development action, which will require much more funding than initially anticipated.
The Global South must advocate for changes to multilateral and international financial organizations. Improved procedures at IFIs are needed to engage private capital through effective methods like blended financing and hedging.
What developments are anticipated about DPI and cryptocurrency next month?
The Global Digital Public Infrastructure Repository (GDPIR), a typical DPI architecture, financing, and capacity building to assist LMICs in designing, constructing, and regulating DPI, are a few of the anticipated consequences for DPI. HLPs for a secure, dependable, and robust digital economy; Combined Global Initiative on Digital Health and Common Cyber Education and Awareness Toolkit
Cryptocurrency results are a top focus of the finance track, and the finance ministry is in charge of the negotiations on that front.
Ukraine is delaying the release of a G20 Communique. Will India succeed at the Summit of world leaders next month?
We are actively collaborating with G20 participants to promote agreement on the geopolitical terminology and paragraphs for this year’s G20 Communiqué, and we anticipate doing so shortly. We maintain Prime Minister Modi’s assertion that this is not a time of war, which he stressed in Bali.
Why is India advocating for the African Union to be included as a G20 member? Will it be a success?
India has risen to the defence of the Global South under Prime Minister Modi’s leadership. Our Presidency wants to represent and communicate their concerns adequately. Prime Minister Modi stressed at the Voice of the Global South Summit that the countries of the South had a lot to learn from one another.
Regarding the African Union’s (AU) request to become a permanent member of the G20, Prime Minister Modi has taken the initiative. He has also fought to include African nations’ priorities on the G20 agenda.
In the future, Africa is expected to surpass the United States economically. Africa is seeing tremendous economic expansion, with six of the top 12 fastest-growing nations in the world being there.
Given that the population of Africa is ageing and will soon experience a demographic dividend, the continent has to be at the forefront of global development efforts. The absence of a permanent membership for the African Union in the G20 would mean passing up a huge chance to advance equitable development.
India has promoted collaboration and demonstrated sympathy with Africa in various ways. Facilitating this accession will benefit India strategically because AU is the voice of the Global South and is India’s fourth-largest trading partner.
The inclusion of the AU is related to India’s support for multilateral changes, beginning with expanding the G20’s diversity.
The AU nations are most positioned to emulate India’s DPI and use soft power to retaliate against China—the possibility of a change in the balance of power between China and India concerning Africa.
In a recent statement, Amitabh Kant, CEO of NITI Aayog, India’s premier policy think tank, has expressed optimism regarding a joint communique anticipated to be released at the upcoming G20 summit in September. The G20, a group of the world’s 20 largest economies, will meet later this year to discuss various pressing global issues.
Amitabh Kant, a key figure in Indian bureaucracy, has played an instrumental role in India’s policy formation and implementation. He has been mainly involved in several significant initiatives, such as ‘Make in India,’ aimed at boosting the nation’s manufacturing sector, and has frequently represented India in various international forums. Kant’s statement comes at a crucial time as the world grapples with the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic and seeks to build a more resilient and sustainable future.
A joint communique is a formal statement issued by the G20 leaders at the end of their meetings. This communique typically outlines the consensus reached by the member countries on various global issues. The significance of a joint communique cannot be understated; it reflects the collective will of nations that account for around 85% of global GDP.
Kant is hopeful that the G20 nations will unify to address issues including but not limited to:
- The global economic recovery following the COVID-19 pandemic
- Climate change and sustainability
- Trade and investment
- Global health governance
In a press statement, Kant said, “In a world marred by increasing isolationism and protectionism, a joint communique from the G20 is more important than ever. It strongly signals that the world’s major economies can still find common ground and work harmoniously for the global good.”
Kant’s optimistic outlook also reflects India’s approach towards multilateralism and its commitment to playing a constructive role in global affairs. As one of the world’s largest and fastest-growing economies, India is often seen as a critical player in international forums such as the G20.
Under Kant’s guidance, NITI Aayog has consistently worked towards sustainable development goals, and he is expected to push for these values at the G20 summit.
While Amitabh Kant remains hopeful, there are substantial challenges in achieving a consensus among the G20 nations, given the member countries’ diverse interests and political stances. Recent years have seen rising tensions in various aspects, including trade conflicts and differing approaches to climate action.
As the G20 summit approaches, the world watches closely to see if the group of nations can arrive at a joint communique that addresses the most pressing issues of our time and charts a course for collective action. Amitabh Kant’s hopeful stance symbolizes India’s eagerness to engage constructively in these discussions and the broader desire for collaborative and effective global governance.
