G20 (Summit on Financial Markets and the World Economy)

[G20 members] Japan, Italy (Presidency), Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Mexico, the Republic of Korea, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the European Union

[Guest countries] Algeria, Brunei, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Morocco, Netherlands, Niger, Rwanda, Singapore, Spain, Tunisia, Libya

[International organizations] the United Nations (UN), the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the World Food Programme (WFP), the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank (ADB), etc.

Monday, June 28th (in Bari)

• Welcome Dinner

Tuesday, June 29th (in Matera)

• Foreign Ministers' Meeting Session 1

• Foreign Ministers' Meeting Session 2

• Joint Foreign and Development Ministers’ Meeting

• Development Ministers' Meeting

Wednesday, June 30th (in Brindisi)

• Ministerial Event on Humanitarian Assistance

　In this session, foreign ministers held candid discussions on multilateralism and global governance in view of global issues such as health, climate change, sustainable development, and trade and investment. Along with the G20 members, guest countries and international organizations participated in the session.

　Minister Motegi emphasized the need for G20 cooperation under multilateralism in order to achieve a "build back better" from COVID-19 and mentioned efforts to counter COVID-19 and climate change as the most important issues facing the international community. Specifically, he introduced Japan’s efforts to improve access to vaccines, including its support for the COVAX facility, as a key to end the pandemic. He also introduced Japan’s efforts in the field of climate change such as setting ambitious emission reduction targets, committing to an end to new direct government support for unabated international thermal coal power generation by the end of 2021, and providing climate finance, both public and private, totaling JPY 6.5 trillion over the next 5 years from 2021 to 2025. He called for further efforts by the G20 members to tackle climate change.

　Minister Motegi then pointed out the need to work on the following issues in order to maintain and strengthen global governance: promoting discussions at the G20 about enhanced transparency of development finance; building high-level multilateral rules on free and fair trade; and on the digital economy, proceeding with negotiations on e-commerce under the Osaka Track launched at the G20 Osaka Summit in 2019.

　In this session, G20 foreign ministers attended the working lunch and had an active discussion on African development in light of the impact of COVID-19 on society and economy in Africa. G20 countries emphasized the necessity of greater international solidarity, the importance of promoting private investment and regional integration through the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) as well as the utilization of renewable energy and digital technologies.

　Minister Motegi began his remarks by introducing his visit to African countries in December 2020 and January 2021, where he had announced Japan’s resolution to strongly support African-led development. Building on that, Minister Motegi stated that Japan would support the building of health and medical systems in Africa, including those necessary to improve access to vaccines, promote business with Africa through developing industrial human resources and transferring technologies, and provide support for enhancing connectivity in Africa, under the vision of a "Free and Open Indo-Pacific (FOIP)".

　Minister Motegi also stated that Japan would contribute to the realization of a vibrant Africa, while cooperating with the G20 members as well as with other countries and organizations concerned toward TICAD 8 to be held in Tunisia next year.

　As the G20 Presidency, Italy organized this meeting with a view to achieving the Sustainable Development Goal 2 (zero hunger) and building sustainable food systems, amidst growing international interest in ensuring food security around the world, against the backdrop of the growing number of people experiencing hunger due to the spread of COVID-19. The meeting was attended by the G20 members, guest countries, and international organizations (UN, FAO, WFP, etc.). Following the meeting, the Matera Declaration on Food Security, Nutrition and Food Systems was issued.

　During the meeting, Minister Motegi pointed out that although the number of hungry people in the world is growing, the amount of food that could feed them is being wasted. In order to close the gaps concerning food and to realize a world without hunger, Minister Motegi stressed the importance of advancing initiatives focused on (1) improving agricultural productivity through acceleration of innovation, (2) developing resilient distribution networks, and (3) realizing smooth international trade.

　In response to these points, many attendees emphasized the importance of G20 cooperation toward ensuring food security during the recovery from the impact of COVID-19.

　Given that the $2.5 trillion annual financing gap to achieve the SDGs has been exacerbated by COVID-19, G20 Ministers discussed the need to diversify financing sources. Ministers also discussed regional development and promotion of the SDGs in rural areas in developing countries, taking into consideration that COVID-19 has made it even more difficult to achieve the SDGs in rural areas. This meeting was attended by ministers in charge of development from G20 members and guest countries as well as representatives of international organizations (UN, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the World Bank, etc.). Following the meeting, the G20 Development Ministers' Meeting Communiqué was issued.

　Minister Motegi emphasized that the G20 members should take the lead in complying with international rules regarding development finance, and raised the need to initiate discussions so that as many countries as possible can achieve early participation in the Total Official Support for Sustainable Development (TOSSD), a groundbreaking initiative to visualize the full array of resources flows in support of developing countries, including public funds other than Official Development Assistance.

　The global spread of COVID-19 has had a tremendous impact on the socio-economic activities of many countries. In terms of logistics, supply chains have been disrupted. In light of this situation, G20 members, guest countries and international organizations (the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the World Health Organization (WHO), etc.) held a candid discussion on related topics including the measures required to ensure quick and reliable delivery of humanitarian relief supplies and medical supplies including vaccines to those in need.

　Minister Motegi stated that Japan is actively participating in the international procurement and distribution mechanism of vaccines through COVAX, and is also promoting the "Last One Mile Support," which aims to improve logistics to deliver vaccines to vaccination sites in developing countries. He also commended the initiatives by international organizations such as WHO and WFP to strengthen logistics. Then he added that Japan would continue to work together and cooperate as a partner of the United Nations Humanitarian Response Depot (UNHRD).