The G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro wrapped up with a joint declaration condemning war and calling for climate change action, but short on specifics. 

"We, the Leaders of the G20, met in Rio de Janeiro on 18-19 November 2024 to address major global challenges and crises and promote strong, sustainable, balanced, and inclusive growth," the document reads.

In Rio de Janeiro, the birthplace of the Sustainable Development Agenda, global leaders reaffirmed their commitment to creating a fairer world and a sustainable planet, focusing on reducing inequalities in all forms and ensuring no one is left behind.

The Rio de Janeiro Leaders' Declaration outlines concrete actions based on the key priorities of Brazil’s G20 presidency:

• Social inclusion and combating hunger and poverty.
• Sustainable development, energy transitions, and climate action.
• Reforming global governance institutions.

The document also celebrates key achievements from Brazil's presidency over the year, including the formation of the Global Alliance against Hunger and Poverty, the establishment of a Task Force for Global Mobilisation against Climate Change and a Call to Action for reforming global governance.

The declaration does not mention any dissenting remarks or non-approval by participating countries. Earlier on November 18, the press office of Argentine President Javier Milei initially refused to sign the agreement. However, it was later confirmed that Milei had agreed to sign the G20 statement but had expressed disagreement on several points, specifically those relating to taxation, "legal inequality," and "restrictions on freedom of expression on social media." Milei, who had initially refused to attend the summit, ultimately arrived at the last minute.

The declarations on the climate were important, as the COP29 climate summit running in parallel in Baku, Azerbaijan has stalled over the issue of developing markets providing funding to increase aid to the Global South for investment into the green transition. The international community has already pledged $100bn in assistance but some COP29 leaders are calling for that to be increased to $1 trillion. At stake is who will pay this money. Leading powers are reluctant to participate.

The G20, which accounts for 80% of global emissions, offered only a vague commitment to increase funding for the Global South and also failed to strengthen the commitment to reduce emissions. 

The international community promised to toughen their commitment on reducing emissions at COP28 and adjust their national commitments upwards, but only Madagascar has fulfilled this commitment.  

The United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has warned that while it is still technically possible to meet the Paris Agreement to hold temperature rises to 1.5C by 2050, that goal is increasingly unrealistic and under current policies the world is on track for a disastrous 2.6C rise that will lead to multiple environmental trigger points being passed. 

The meeting addressed most of the topics prioritised by the host Brazil that included addressing ongoing wars, a global pact to fight hunger, the introduction of a global tax on the super rich and changes to global governance. 

In particular, the G20 called for more aid for war-torn Gaza and an end to hostilities in the Middle East and Ukraine, but the joint declaration was heavy on generalities but short of details on how to accomplish these goals.

“Affirming the Palestinian right to self-determination, we reiterate our unwavering commitment to the vision of the two-State solution where Israel and a Palestinian State live side by side in peace,” the statement said.

The Rio summit continues the work of the G20 summit in India last year that made big strides in promoting the non-aligned world, and saw the organisation greatly expanded by the inclusion of the 54 counties of the African Union as a member. 

Despite the fluffy nature of the of the statement, it is still seen as a success. At the start of the three-day meeting experts doubted Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva could convince the assembled leaders to hammer out any agreement at all. 

“Although generic, it is a positive surprise for Brazil,” said Thomas Traumann, an independent political consultant and former Brazilian minister speaking to AP. “There was a moment when there was a risk of no declaration at all. Despite the caveats, it is a good result for Lula.”

The meeting was also a success for Lula, who has raised his profile on the international stage as a key member of the BRICS group and has travelled heavily since taking office last year. Brazil will host the COP30 meeting next year.

Super-rich tax, global hunger and UN reform

Among the specifics the G20 summit in Rio did address was the introduction of a global tax on the super-rich, fighting global hunger and reform of the UN to reflect the growing importance of the Global South in global politics.

One of the most significant inclusions was the proposed global tax on billionaires – a measure strongly supported by Brazilian President Lula. The tax would target approximately 3,000 of the world’s wealthiest individuals, including around 100 in Latin America. Despite strong objections from Argentina, which took issue with several aspects of the declaration, the clause on taxing the super-rich remained intact in the final statement.

Argentine President Milei, known for his vocal opposition to multilateral agreements, particularly objected to references to the UN's 2030 sustainable development agenda, calling it “…a supranational program of a socialist nature.” He also resisted calls for regulating hate speech on social media, which he views as a breach of national sovereignty.

Milei's role at the summit was akin to that of former US President Donald Trump, often acting as a spoiler in multilateral engagements. His relationship with the neo-liberal Lula remains fraught, with the Argentine leader frequently pushing back on many of the Brazilian president's global initiatives.

Despite the political wrangling, the summit’s declaration centred on eradicating global hunger – a personal priority for Lula. Brazil’s government highlighted Lula’s launch of the Global Alliance against Hunger and Poverty as a significant achievement, with 82 countries having already signed up.

The initiative is supported by influential entities, including the Rockefeller Foundation and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. On Rio’s iconic Copacabana beach, 733 empty plates were laid out to symbolise the 733mn people who experienced hunger in 2023, underscoring the urgency of the issue, AP reports.

Another key topic at the summit was the long-awaited reform of the United Nations Security Council. Leaders pledged to work towards “transformative reform” that would align the council “with the realities and demands of the 21st century” and make it “more representative, inclusive, efficient, effective, democratic and accountable.”

Lula, who has been calling for such changes since his earlier terms in office from 2003 to 2010, reiterated the need to reflect the shifting global dynamics and give a voice to underrepresented regions, such as Africa, Asia-Pacific and Latin America. The UN Security Council currently contains no representatives from Africa or Latin America.

Despite widespread consensus that the Security Council’s structure, unchanged since 1945, needs an overhaul, and disagreements about how to achieve this persist. The US has backed adding two permanent seats for African countries without veto powers, and a non-permanent seat for small island nations. But the Group of Four – Brazil, Germany, India and Japan –supports mutual bids for permanent seats. The Uniting for Consensus group, which includes countries like Pakistan, Italy and Mexico, favours expanded non-permanent seats instead of more permanent ones.

“We call for an enlarged Security Council composition that improves the representation of the underrepresented and unrepresented regions and groups, such as Africa, Asia-Pacific and Latin America and the Caribbean,” the joint statement said.

For Lula, the summit represented a boost to his international profile as a key member of the BRICS group, setting the stage for Brazil to host the COP30 meeting next year. As the G20 wraps up in Rio, the broader ambitions of the Global South, including a call for a fairer distribution of global power and wealth, remain front and centre, with the hope that world leaders will move beyond statements and into action.