The T20 has come a long way – now it needs to take the next step
Think tanks have become a noticeable actor in the G20 process. This is a result of the changing nature of the G20 itself, which evolved from a crisis committee into a network focal point. In this process, it has become more inclusive vis-à-vis transnational networks of societal actors such as business, civil-society, women’s organisations, and labour unions. Complex realities need different perspectives – and they also need analysis and research-based recommendations, which is the task of think tanks.
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In Buenos Aires on 30 November and 1 December 2018, the G20 is having its 10th anniversary as a summit format at the leaders’ level. On 14 and 15 November 2008, this previously-obscure group of finance ministers and central bankers of the nineteen most “systemically relevant” countries and the EU was transformed into a forum for international leaders to meet with a view into the abyss of the global financial crisis that originated in the US and spread fast across the world. Ten years and 12 leaders’ summits later, the G20 has moved beyond its 2008-09 role as a crisis-management forum and became the self-described “premier forum for […] international economic cooperation.” In this capacity it is now facing new demands to tackle global challenges such as climate change, digitalization and pandemics. As its agenda has expanded and the urgency of the crisis fades, the G20 faces questions regarding its relationship to other formal institutions of global governance, such as the United Nations, its effectiveness in dealing with global challenges as well as its legitimacy and accountability vis-à-vis its people and the 174 non-members.