With the 1.5°C target being discussed again at COP27 (the 27th United Nations Climate Change conference) and continuing geopolitical tensions between Ukraine and Russia, this year’s Group of 20 (G20), composed of the 20 top economies in the world, had much pressure to deliver promising international policy. The 2022 G20 Summit took place on Tuesday 15 November until Wednesday 16 November in Bali, Indonesia under the Indonesian Government’s presidency.
The four young leaders who represented the voices of British young people at this year’s G20 reflect on the outcomes of the world leaders’ summit.
Diversity and Inclusion
Going into the G20 Leaders Summit, there was a huge possibility that G20 leaders would fail to come to a consensus as a result of the heightened geopolitical tensions in Ukraine. This would have been gravely unfortunate, scuppering months of meaningful negotiation and leaving the most economically advanced countries without a coordinated plan to navigate the huge economic and environmental challenges ahead. Therefore, we welcome the proposals found within the G20 Leaders Declaration.
In addition, we appreciate that the efforts of Y20 were acknowledged not only in name, but more importantly, in substance as many of the policies in the Y20 Communiqué were mirrored in the G20 Leaders Declaration. Most notably, it was amazing to see the G20 Leaders Declaration mention on several occasions that educational systems need to be amended to incorporate the teaching of soft and communication related skills to better equip young people for the fast changing world of work, as per the Y20 Communiqué’s recommendations.
Commenting, Mohammad Mahdi Karim, the UK’s Y20 Head Delegate and the UK’s Y20 Diversity and Inclusion Delegate said:
“Whilst we welcome the G20’s references to policy recommendations from the Y20 on diversity and inclusion, we have to recognise that these are merely words in a substantially long document. It’s a significant milestone, but more work needs to be done to bring these words to life and hold G20 leaders to account so that these visions become a reality. We look forward to working with key stakeholders including young people, teachers, politicians, civil servants and leaders in education to achieve this.”
Sustainable and Livable Planet
In line with the G20 Presidency theme — Recover Together, Recover Stronger — the G20 Leaders Declaration reaffirms their commitment to the Paris agreement and to limit global warming to 1.5°C, while advancing the agenda for strong, inclusive and resilient global recovery and sustainable development.
We note in particular the focus on the importance of water, which has not been highlighted so strongly to date by G20 Leaders, and the pledge to operationalise the holistic One Health approach in food systems and pandemic prevention. Additionally, we welcome the commitment to adaptation and the invitation to parties to make progress on loss and damage at COP27. However, dedication of finance and practical actions such as the establishment or improvement of monitoring and evaluation systems (including early warning systems) is required and the G20 must take a leadership role to turn these commitments into action.
Commenting, Micheala Chan, the UK’s Y20 Sustainable and Livable Planet Delegate said:
“Whilst we welcome the continued focus on the key global challenges - including the climate, biodiversity and public health crises - and their interconnectedness, this declaration cannot stand alone and must be a catalyst for action on a wider stage. We urge G20 Leaders to continue to engage in the effective multilateralism, including outside of the G20, required for the urgent, inclusive and effective implementation of solutions to tackle the greatest global challenges of our time and ensure a sustainable and liveable planet for all.”
Youth Employment
The G20 Leaders Declaration demonstrated a strong commitment towards re-skilling and up-skilling, particularly for women, girls and people from vulnerable backgrounds. We welcome the G20’s recognition of the need to ensure that more people are equipped with the skills to thrive in this increasingly digitised world and that education provision is strengthened to ensure learning recovery and lifelong learning. Furthermore, we are happy to see the affirmation that the Multilateral Trading System (MTS) will remain to continue to foster job creation, the ambition to promote decent, unforced labour, the continued commitment towards providing financial safety nets and the desire to accelerate the G20’s progress towards the Antalya Youth Goal.
Commenting, Shaun Odili, the UK’s Y20 Youth Employment Delegate, said:
“Although we endorse the multi-pronged approach towards improving employment, we believe that the issues surrounding youth unemployment have not been adequately addressed. We implore G20 leaders to resolve the issue of unpaid internships, particularly in multilateral organisations.
We also urge G20 leaders to create and promote green jobs for young people, to promote social entrepreneurship and to ensure that education systems are better preparing young people for the workplace through better skills development programs and careers guidance. G20 leaders must recognise the nuances of youth employment issues and ensure that young people are kept at the heart of their commitments to improving employment levels and circumstances.”
Digital Transformation
It’s encouraging to see that digital transformation policies form such a pivotal component of this years’ G20 Leaders declaration. As young people, we know the importance of the digital space and digital technologies because we live our lives through them. It’s why at the beginning of our recommendations in the Y20 Communiqué, we called for a “just, inclusive, intersectional, environmentally-conscious, and human-centric transition to a digitally transformed society and economy”. We are delighted that these principles were re-affirmed in the leader’s declaration, and that collectively, the G20 Leaders agreed to advance towards a “more inclusive, human-centric, empowering, and sustainable digital transformation” in the G20 Leaders Declaration.
Commenting, Eleri Kirkpatrick-Lorente, the UK’s Y20 Digital Transformation Delegate, said:
“While we’re pleased that the leaders chose to reiterate these vital principles, we’re disappointed that these ideals aren’t translated into more concrete action.
In our Y20 communiqué, we advocated for a “Digital Wellbeing Charter”, a first of its kind document which would set out the principles which should guide the formulation of digital policies. Agreement, between the G20 countries and member organisations, about the types of harm governments should try and mitigate online, as well as a consensus about what maximising wellbeing looks like in a digital world, would have been a transformational contribution to our global community. Digital technologies and online spaces aren’t restricted by political borders, and all countries are having to manage the reality of digital harms which actively injure people, especially young people.
As the Y20, we hope to continue advocating for robust and meaningful policies which allow G20 members to set out a positive vision for digital transformations that will take advantage of the numerous opportunities while making sure no one is left behind.”
The UK’s Y20 Delegates at the 2022 Y20 Summit in Indonesia.
The UK’s Y20 Delegates at No. 10 Downing Street, the official residence of the UK’s Prime Minister, to hand-deliver the 2022 Y20 Communiqué.
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ENDS
Notes to the Editor:
For more information about the support available to young people in the UK, particularly our Youth 20 opportunity, please visit our website: https://www.futureleaders.network
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About Future Leaders Network
Future Leaders Network is a not-for-profit organisation aimed at discovering and developing the next generation of social, economic and political leaders in the United Kingdom. We are revolutionising the leadership development landscape, by equipping young people with the leadership experience, skills and network they need to deliver positive change in the world.
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Since 2011, we have selected and supported young leaders to represent the U.K. at the G7 and G20 Youth Summits. Since 2021, we have selected and supported young leaders to represent the U.K. at COP.
Website: https://www.futureleaders.network
About the Youth 20 (Y20) 2022
The Youth 20 (Y20) is the official youth engagement group for the Group of 20 (G20) intergovernmental and multilateral process. Its purpose is to ensure that decisions and agreements reached by world leaders at their summit represent the views and needs of young people from around the globe.
Each year as part of the Y20, four young leaders are selected from each G20 member state to represent their country in a series of negotiations at which policy recommendations (known as a communique) to world leaders, on behalf of young people, are agreed.
This year's Y20 communiqué consists of policy recommendations that range across four different track areas: Sustainable and Liveable Planet, Youth Employment, Digital Transformation and Diversity and Inclusion. It also includes a cross-cutting proposals section focused on Global Health
Y20 Communiqué:https://y20-indonesia.org/y20-communique-indonesia/