The 2022 G20 Summit: Another step towards recovery or a growing rift?

The 2022 G20 Summit, to be held in Bali, Indonesia, on 15 and 16 November, will bring together the major economies' leaders in a physical meeting for the first time since the pandemic began, providing opportunities to hold informal bilateral meetings in the margins of the summit (last year, the leaders of Russia, Japan, Mexico and China chose not to attend in person). In preparation for the summit, the Indonesian Presidency has focused on three interconnected pillars, namely the global health architecture, the sustainable energy transition, and digital transformation, to secure a sustainable future while driving digital innovation. To achieve this aim, it has highlighted the need for further reforms in global taxation, stronger cooperation on fighting corruption, deeper infrastructure financing, and more democratic and representative international cooperation. Its informal nature makes the G20 a vital global platform, as it brings together the leaders of all the major developed and emerging economies, regardless of their political systems. In a global context characterised by growing rifts between the major geopolitical powers, the 2022 summit could present an opportunity to show how committed countries still are to multilateral rules and cooperation, but also how much trust remains to sustain the G20's customary voluntary commitments. This, however, will be difficult to achieve this year in particular. As a sign of the growing rift between the US and EU on one hand and Russia and China on the other, most of the ministerial meetings in the run-up to the summit failed to issue communiqués, despite most members agreeing broadly on what needs to be done. For the EU, the summit is traditionally an opportunity to reaffirm the EU's unabatedly strong support for multilateralism, which has been put to the test by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. This briefing draws on a previous one, on the 2021 G20 summit, by Ionel Zamfir.