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G20: From crisis response to crisis prevention
This year’s G20 Summit presents an opportunity for the international forum to realign its existential purpose from responding to global crises to preventing future crises.
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Banner ads for the 2022 Group of 20 Bali Summit, to be held on Nov. 15-16, are displayed on the immigration counters at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport. (Photo: ANTARA)
Against the background of uneven recovery following the pandemic and the prolonged war in Ukraine, Indonesia has been hosting the most challenging Group of 20 presidency yet. The global economy has suffered as economic growth weakened and inflation peaked due to rising energy prices, supply chain disruptions and mounting geopolitical tensions worldwide.
All eyes are on the G20 Summit to see how the world will come together to find common solutions and a path forward, despite their conflicting interests.
Throughout the year, the G20 working groups, both the Sherpa and finance tracks, have conducted meetings as well as disseminated and produced some critical frameworks to achieve the "Recover Together, Recover Stronger" vision of G20 Indonesia 2022.
Because of the war, the initial G20 agenda at the working group level needed to be adjusted. For example, securing food and energy supplies in addition to taming global inflation were made the top priorities.
There is no doubt that in this regard, Indonesia’s G20 presidency has become an essential international crisis response group. However, the adverse impacts of the multiple crises of climate change, COVID-19 and others have not gone away, while new and more complex challenges wait ahead. That is why the framework of the G20 has to endure, nimble and flexible not only in responding to the global challenges today and tomorrow, but also in preventing them.
It cannot be denied that the war and other crises have made the G20 process obscure and consensus less likely to be reached because of prevailing tensions at the summit. However, the G20 presidency should be viewed as a process rather than as a summit in and of itself.
Moving from crisis response to crises prevention seems to be a viable option in changing the way G20 anticipates and prepares for all possible scenarios. Expectation is slim for reaching consensus due to the geopolitical dynamics heading into the summit.
