G20 Social Summit begins in Rio

The G20 Social Summit begins today in Rio de Janeiro.

In December 2023, Brazil took over the rotating presidency of the G20. The group is one of the biggest intergovernmental forums, representing 85% of the world’s GDP, more than 75% of world trade and around two-thirds of the world’s population.

This year, Brazil has championed the G20 Social, a feature that empowers non-governmental actors to participate in the G20’s decision-making processes and to submit points for discussion during the G20 Summit of Heads of States.

The main topics to be discussed during the Social Summit will be hunger and inequality, climate change and fair transition, and global governance reform. In the short term, the G20 Social is expected to be powered by the Brazilian government in an effort to consolidate it as a yearly preliminary event for the future G20 Summit. Long-term, expect the G20 Social to gain momentum, as similar intergovernmental forums like the Conference of the Parties (COP) have also established social participation within their framework. In the medium term, expect a special focus on governance reform, as both Brazil and South Africa—the next G20 rotary presidency—will continue to advocate for structural reforms in UN bodies and court developing countries to partner under BRICS and other financial development institutions.