G20-Germany-Hamburg-2017

Improving sustainability
Transcending
borders to
leave no one
behind
To ensure a climate of inclusion, the G20 needs to
focus on enhancing equality, writes Michel Sidibé
Our multipolar world is unravelling, and progress towards
global unity is at growing risk, as recent events have
triggered a climate of uncertainty and agitation. Some
voices predict the rapid collapse of the current world
order that emerged following the Second World War and
ensured a relatively peaceful balance of powers – if extreme global
inequality – and with it the breakdown of multilateralism and
global citizenship.
Such fears may be well founded, but none of this is inevitable.
The victory of the new French president, pro-EU centrist Emmanuel
Macron, for example, is a call from the people of France to continue
the march towards a more open, equal and progressive society.
One key priority put forward by the G20’s German presidency is
improving sustainability. But this will not be achieved in the present
climate unless we all pull together. I salute Chancellor Angela
Merkel’s strong emphasis on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable
Development and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. When
these key multilateral agreements were adopted two years ago,
they exemplified the international community’s commitment to
solve planetary issues collectively, and as a priority. They revealed
a willingness to look beyond the G20’s borders and towards the
rest of the world. But, in this emerging world disorder, can these
agreements retain any legitimacy or relevance?
The recent negotiations among G20 finance ministers and
central bank governors show how renewed protectionism has
eroded long-standing commitments to open trade. In fact, trade was
barely mentioned at all in their communiqué in March, which also
reflected the G20’s drastic shift in its readiness to finance measures
against climate change. When the world’s most influential countries
are tempted to look inwards, institutions such as the G20 must
exercise active leadership, pushing individual members to align
their interests through collaborative action. In this alarming
112 G20 Germany: The Hamburg Summit • July 2017 G7G20.com