The 2023 G20 Summit: A deepening rift heralding an uncertain future

The 2023 G20 Summit will take place in New Delhi, India, on 9 and 10 September. In preparation for the summit, the G20 Presidency has focused on six priorities consistent with those of the G7, namely green development, inclusive growth, progress on the United Nations sustainable development goals (SDGs), technological transformation, multilateral institutions for the 21st century, and women-led development. The G20's informal nature makes it a vital global platform, gathering the leaders of all major developed and emerging economies, regardless of their political systems. For the EU, the summit is traditionally an opportunity to reaffirm its strong support for multilateralism and call for action to resolve important and/or urgent issues. A recent example is the letter sent by the EU's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy (HR/VP), Josep Borrell, following Russia's withdrawal from the Black Sea Grain Deal, asking his counterparts to join in placing pressure on Russia to return to the deal, given its importance for many developing countries. While the outcomes of recent summits have not been as clear-cut and unanimous as in previous crises (e.g. 2008), experts maintain that the G20 can still serve as a forum to manage strategic rivalries and global challenges. In this context, major (Brazil and India) and rising middle powers (Argentina, Indonesia, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and Turkey) in the group play an increasingly important role. Their contribution to the final declaration condemning the war in Ukraine underlined this in 2022, as well as the inclusion of several topics which are important to emerging economies, such as the need to address food insecurity, reinforce pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response, increase access to education, and strengthen the development agenda. At the same time, this should be considered in the light of China and Russia's leaders' decision not to attend the 2023 summit, which, coupled with the envisioned expansion of the BRICS group, can be seen as a desire from part of the China/Russia axis to dilute the G20's importance. This briefing draws on a previous edition, on the 2022 G20 summit, by Angelos Delivorias.