The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, briefly greeted the President of the United States, Joe Biden, just before entering the plenary session on ‘Global Economy and Health’ in the framework of the G20 meeting in Rome. According to the video released by Moncloa, Sánchez and Biden have shook hands and exchanged a brief greeting of a few seconds. Then Sánchez greeted the President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Before the plenary meeting, Sánchez held an informal bilateral meeting with the managing director of the IMF, Kristalina Georgieva. The meeting has been, as usual, behind closed doors and without journalists, but – according to the accredited press sources from Moncloa – the representative of the international organization has framed the inflationary tensions that have hit the euro zone in a temporary context and, therefore, as a transitory factor, although it has not set a deadline of conclusion.
Furthermore, according to these same sources, the IMF would have full confidence in the government’s recovery plans. Sánchez has also participated in another bilateral meeting with the Director General of the WTO, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, in which other issues of global importance such as climate change, the advance of the pandemic or the need to promote a free trade. Furthermore, it has become clear that the pandemic has brought about major changes in the global economy and that nations must adapt to them.
G20 course
The summit started this Saturday with an atypical family photo. Along with world leaders was a group of health workers, the heroes of the pandemic. An image of the engagement at the first face-to-face G20 summit since the arrival of COVID-19. A health crisis that is still in force, as Mario Draghi, Prime Minister of Italy, wanted to recall: “The pandemic is not over. In the poorest countries the percentage of the population with a dose falls to 3% “.
This is precisely the first challenge set by the G20: that by mid-2022 there will be 70% of the world’s population vaccinated. But the reality is that vaccines are not reaching those who need them most. Only 14% of the doses promised by rich countries have reached countries with fewer resources, something that also jeopardizes global recovery plans.
This is another of the great challenges of the summit. At the moment Draghi has resold the global tax of 15% to multinationals that was already agreed in summer. “A fairer and more effective international tax system“, the Italian prime minister has claimed. The energy crisis and shortages are also one of the issues that is already hitting the West today. In addition, a group of climate activists, who has cut off a street in Rome this Saturday, has recalled what should be another of the great challenges of this summit.
The goal: to achieve zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. An agreement that would serve as a prelude to the Glasgow climate summit. One of the most reluctant to the agreement is the Chinese president, one of the great absences in Rome along with that of Vladimir Putin. A summit that, by the way, will be the last for Angela Merkel.
Mario Twitchell is an accomplished author and journalist, known for his insightful and thought-provoking writing on a wide range of topics including general and opinion. He currently works as a writer at 247 news agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the industry.
