Brazil G20 Presidency to Focus on Inequality, UNSC Reforms, Says Prez Lula

Brazil President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on Monday said Brazil will put the issue of inequality at its core when it assumes the presidency of the Group of 20 (G20) on December 1. “It is a lot of responsibility for Brazil to host the G20 Summit next year. We will put the inequality issue as the core issue during the Summit,” Lula said while addressing the press in New Delhi.

Brazil is likely to use the G20 presidency to attract global attention to the economic, social, political and environmental problems afflicting South America, Central America and the Caribbean.

According to the World’s Bank these regions have seen rising income inequality which has taken a toll on the governance due to massive protests and clampdown on those protests. “Inequality in Latin America remains the highest in the world and such high levels of inequality are both intrinsically repugnant and instrumentally pernicious,” the World Bank said in 2020.

Lula, as G20 President, will try to address these issues and cast global spotlight on the issues plaguing the region often known for popular uprisings and sudden fall and rise of popular leaders.

In Latin America, the richest 10% of people capture 54% of the national income, a separate blog post by the London School of Economics said.

Lula said another core area of focus for Brazil will be clean energy transition. Brazil, home to a large part of one of the world’s largest rainforests, Amazon, is facing a race against time to curb deforestation and ousting of native tribes from the Amazon forest. Time will only tell if he will be able to mobilise consensus for its conservation and protect it from biodiversity loss.

“Another issue that we are going to discuss is the energy transition. Brazil has extraordinary potential in the production of clean energy,” Lula said.

Lula also said that he will prioritise reform of the multilateral institutions and discuss permanent membership of Brazil in the UN Security Council. “We are also going to discuss the reform of the multilateral institutions. We also want to discuss permanent membership of the UN Security Council,” Lula said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the current G20 President handed over the G20 Presidency to Brazil President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on Sunday in New Delhi. “India passes the gavel to Brazil. We have unwavering faith that they will lead with dedication, vision and will further global unity as well as prosperity. India assures all possible cooperation to Brazil during their upcoming G20 Presidency,” PM Modi said.