Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Italy and participated in the 16th G20 (Group of Twenty) Leaders’ Summit, which was held in Rome, Italy from October 30 to 31, 2021.
- Theme: The 2021 G20 is under the Italian Presidency. It is focusing on three broad, interconnected pillars of action: People, Planet, and Prosperity.
- Other G20 leaders who have participated in the summit include US President Joe Biden, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Emmanuel Macron and summit host Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi.
- The 1st session of the G20 Summit was held on Global Economy and Global Health.
- The next meetings of G20 summit were scheduled to be held in Indonesia in 2022, in India in 2023 and in Brazil in 2024.
-India, Italy to collaborate on Green Hydrogen, Gas Sector
i.To strengthen the partnerships in the energy transition, India and Italy agreed to explore the development of green hydrogen, setting up renewable energy corridors, and joint projects in the natural gas sector.
ii.Both nations have agreed to initiate a dialogue to support the development and deployment of a large size green corridor project in India to capitalize on India’s target to produce and integrate 450 GW (Gigawatts) of renewable energy (such as wind and solar) by 2030.
Note – India also set a target to double the share of natural gas in its energy basket to 15 percent by 2030 to cut the carbon emission in the Economy.
iii.The G20 discussed progress in bilateral relations since the adoption of the Action Plan for an enhanced Partnership between India and Italy (2020-2024) on November 6, 2020.
-G20 Leaders Agreed to Global Warming Target of 1.5°c
i.The G20 committed to the Paris Agreement goal to hold the global average temperature increase well below 2°C and to pursue efforts to limit it to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.
- The G20 is the Group of 20 major economies which emit around 80 percent of carbon emissions.
ii.The G20 countries agreed to ‘accelerate actions’ in the 2020s, with their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) and long-term net-zero strategies, for which they have committed to increasing the finance and promised to mobilise $100 billion annually through 2025.
iii.The G20 agreed to mobilise funds to support low emission power development and the leaders set pledge to stop – financing of overseas coal-fired power generation by the end of2021, and building new coal power plants before the end of the 2030s.
iv.India urged the developed nations to reduce their ‘luxurious and energy-intensive lifestyles’ so that the developing countries get the margin to meet their required targets for climate goals.
v.G20 nations pledged to vaccinate 70 percent of the world’s population against COVID-19 by mid-2022.
Support for FATF:
They have reaffirmed their full support for the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and the Global Network and recognise that effective implementation of Anti-Money Laundering/Countering the Financing of Terrorism and Proliferation (AML/CFT/CPF).
- FATF is an inter-governmental body established in 1989 to combat money laundering, terrorist financing and other threats to the integrity of the international financial system.
Key Points:
i.The External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar accompanied PM at the G20 Summit from October 30-31.
- On the sidelines of the G20 summit, he met US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and discussed issues relating to the bilateral strategic partnership.
ii.Bilateral Meeting: PM held a bilateral meeting with the Prime Minister of Singapore, H.E. Mr. Lee Hsien Loong, President of France, H.E. Mr. Emmanuel Macron, Prime Minister of Spain, Pedro Sánchez, President of Indonesia, H.E. Mr. Joko Widodo, Chancellor of the Federal Republic of German, H.E. Dr. Angela Merkel, on the sidelines of the G20 Leaders Summit.
- PM has invited Pope Francis to visit India.
iii.PM participated in the Summit on Global Supply Chain Resilience, on the sidelines of G20. The Summit discussed ways in which governments can alleviate pressure points in the global supply chain ecosystem.
Note – The Prime Minister of Japan Fumio Kishida and the President of South Africa Cyril Ramaphosa skipped the summit (due to elections).
About Group of Twenty (G20):
Establishment – 1999
Members – 20 (19 countries + European Union)
