The G20 summit in Osaka was perhaps most notable for the breakdowns that did not occur. Leaders have eventually agreed on a joint communiqué and endorsed consensual language on trade and many other issues. The nineteen members who had reaffirmed their commitment to the Paris Climate Agreement in Hamburg and Buenos Aires did so again.…
Positive comments on the G20 summit in Buenos Aires, held on 30 November and 1 December 2018, mostly point to the instances where leaders have reaffirmed positions taken in earlier meetings. But critics underline how little, in their view, this summit has added in substance. They obviously use different standards. This piece takes a systematic look at the roles of continuity and discontinuity in the G20 process, as it presents itself after Buenos Aires. It tries to explain why there is demand for continuity in the G20’s work and describes circumstances under which continuity might still break down.
Blog Series: What remains of the G20 Hamburg Summit?
High hopes for the G20
Today people ask what the G20 is for. The answer is far from straightforward. With no written mandate, the G20’s value is in whatever it does. But to many, G20 action now seems arcane or ineffective, not worth the effort of large scale summitry. In this blog I attempt to show that the G20 has made and still can make a difference. It offers some guesses as to why doubts persist. And it gives a perspective of how the G20 might evolve.
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