The G20 under Argentina's Presidency: Time to Deliver on the Hamburg Promises

Abstract

On 1 December 2017, Argentina took over the presidency of the G20 from the German government. This is the right time to briefly review the year of the G20 under a German presidency in troubled times. It is also a prudent time to look ahead and provide a preliminary assessment of the priorities set by Argentina. The G20 under the German presidency has displayed flexibility, avoided deadlock, and - despite the protests - started to address its legitimacy problems. The Hamburg summit recognised that the gains of globalisation have not been shared widely enough, and 19 members of the G20 reaffirmed their commitment to the Paris Agreement. Yet, the summit did not deliver concrete actions. The Argentine presidency will have to keep the G20 alive and functioning, but the club will also have to demonstrate that the commitment to "shape globalization to benefit all people" does not turn out to be an empty promise. The Argentine government has set three priority issues for its G20 presidency: the future of work, infrastructure for development, and food security - topics on which some consensus is likely to be found. The proposal stresses the need for greater involvement of the private sector, particularly in terms of financing infrastructure. The G20 summit in Buenos Aires risks becoming a lost opportunity. The current Argentine proposal for the agenda is not ambitious enough, and it sends the wrong signals. Instead of managing adjustment, it overemphasises the need to enable people to adjust. Further, too much emphasis is placed on increased private-sector involvement - be it in infrastructure or agriculture. The summit in Buenos Aires presents an opportunity to start considering the concrete steps to achieving more inclusive growth through a fairer globalisation. The solution cannot be to turn yet more public assets into private ones.