G20 FMs meet at UN headquarters on reform of global governance

Foreign ministers of the Group of 20 (G20) members gathered at the UN headquarters for the first time on Wednesday, on the sidelines of the General Debate of the 79th Session of the UN General Assembly, focusing on the theme "Building a just world and a sustainable planet," reported Xinhua.

The meeting, chaired by Brazil and open to all UN member states, focused on debates on the reform of global governance, and discussed global measures to tackle hunger and poverty, promote sustainable development and a just energy transition, and other issues.

In opening remarks at the meeting, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called on global institutions to work together, "not on parallel or conflicting tracks," to tackle the many challenges facing the world today -- inequality, financing for development, the climate crisis, the impact of new technologies.

"In all these areas, progress is slipping out of reach as our world becomes more unsustainable, unequal and unpredictable," the UN chief said, warning that conflicts are raging, the climate crisis is accelerating, inequalities are growing, and new technologies have unprecedented potential for good -- and bad.

Guterres stressed that G20 members can act in three specific areas: finance; climate; and strong, inclusive, legitimate global institutions and tools to tackle the challenges of today and tomorrow.

He noted that the international community needs to reform the international financial architecture to make it fully representative of today's global economy, so it can provide strong support to implement the Sustainable Development Goals.

"We are at a critical moment: a battle to prevent temperatures from rising above the agreed limit of 1.5 degrees," said the UN chief, while urging strong engagement of G20 countries, including in reforms of United Nations bodies.

Philemon Yang, president of the UN General Assembly, said the G20 remains a critical platform for addressing global economic challenges, fostering international cooperation, and driving sustainable development.

The G20 foreign ministers' meeting took place "at a critical moment" when the world is uniting around the urgent need to revitalize the multilateral architecture, ensuring it is fit for addressing today's challenging problems, said Yang, calling on the G20 to take decisive steps in advancing the outcomes of the Summit of the Future, particularly in reforming the international financial architecture to make it more equitable and effective for all nations.

G20 countries, representing approximately 60 percent of the global population and contributing around 85 percent of the world's GDP, bear the responsibility of leading the charge in realizing the ambitious goals set out in the Pact for the Future, said Yang.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, whose country holds the G20 presidency for 2024, said the G20 cannot shirk their responsibilities in the face of the serious crises generated by climate change, and demanded effective actions from the group in the fight against hunger and in reforming the management of major multilateral institutions.

Lula highlighted the priorities of Brasil's G20 presidency -- social inclusion focusing on fighting hunger and inequality; climate change, which requires effective accountability not only from nations, but also from other sectors; and a reform in the global governance system, which is capable of repositioning the United Nations at the center of international decisions.

Cyril Ramaphosa, president of South Africa, which will assume the G20 presidency in December, said the United Nations must remain a centerpiece of multilateralism, and "it must be modernized to make it fit for purpose and more effective, more agile, and more forward-looking."

"It needs to represent current geopolitical relations and the prevailing international realities," he said, adding that South Africa is committed to the reinvigoration of the multilateral system and the reform of the global governance institutions to make them more representative.

The meeting, attended foreign ministers of G20 members with the participation of other UN member countries, adopted the Call of Action on Global Governance focusing on the reform of the United Nations, reform of the international financial architecture, and reform of the multilateral trade system.