The G20 has been criticized for its lack of transparency, the promotion of trade deals that empower big business, the slow fight against climate change, and the failure to address social inequality and global threats to democracy. U.S. President Donald J. Trump has come into conflict with many members of the group over trade, climate and migration policies. Nevertheless, G20 countries continue to support cooperation on several other fronts, ranging from fighting terrorism to empowering more women in the labour market. In 2019, the G20 summit will take place in Osaka, Japan, and the agenda will include discussions on World Trade Organization (WTO) reform, global health and climate change. Bilateral meetings on the margins of the summit have sometimes resulted in important international agreements and highlighted existing hostilities. From that first formulation under the name „GX“ until its birth in September 1999, the G20 has been the product of different approaches among G7 members. These will partly determine how the new body develops. The Italian-backed French opposed the creation of the G20, fearing it would undermine the authority of the IMF, led by their compatriot Michel Camdessus, and the new International Monetary and Monetary Financial Committee (IMFC), which they preferred.
The United States and Japan were very supportive of the creation of a new body. Britain, while supportive, has been somewhat cautious, fearing that in practice the G20 will undermine the importance of the new IFMC, to which British Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown was initially preferred. Previously, its aim was to limit discussions in the new body. Canada was supportive, in part because it wanted to see a broader consultative structure that was more formal, connected to other institutions, and less controlled by the United States and its preferences than it perceived it as the former G22, created at the initiative of President Clinton at the APEC Leaders` Meeting in November 1997. Since the G-20 is a forum and not a legislative body, its agreements and decisions have no legal implications, but they influence countries` policies and global cooperation. Together, the economies of the G20 countries account for about 90% of gross world product (GWP), 80% of world trade and two-thirds of the world`s population. After their first summit of heads of state and government in 2008, G-20 leaders announced that the group would replace the G-8 as the main economic council of nations. The G20 is the latest in a series of post-World War II initiatives aimed at coordinating international economic policies, including institutions such as the „Bretton Woods twins“,“ the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, and today`s World Trade Organization. [13] Some of the group`s political recipes were also unpopular, especially among liberal factions. Protests at the group`s summits have accused the G-20, among others, of promoting trade deals that strengthen big business, are delinquent in the fight against climate change, and fail to address social inequality and global threats to democracy. Contrary to the Spanish position, the Polish government has repeatedly asked to join the G20.
The G20`s accession policy has also been criticised. Critics say the group is too restrictive, and its practice of adding guests like those from African countries is little more than a symbolic attempt to account for the G-20`s global economic diversity. Former US President Barack Obama stressed the challenge of determining who can join such a powerful group: „Everyone wants the smallest possible group that includes them. So if they are the 21st largest nation in the world, they want the G-21 and think it`s very unfair if they were eliminated. In addition, each year the G20 guests include Spain; [42] the ASEAN Presidency; two African countries (the Chairperson of the African Union and a representative of the New Partnership for Africa`s Development (NEPAD) and one country (sometimes more than one) invited by the Presidency, usually from its own region. 2][43],[44] In terms of content, Canada`s central objective was to prevent the body from creating the traditional north-south gradient. Canada therefore wanted to continue to focus on the exchange of experiences and open discussion, rather than presenting difficult positions. Their insistence was reinforced by the views of some, such as another newly appointed finance minister, who saw the new group as an excellent opportunity for the „South“ to impose its problems on the „North.“ Learn more about how our collective capabilities can shape a sustainable, inclusive and resilient global economy for our future In the diplomacy that designed the new institution, China has had a place of honor.
During this process, there was never any serious consideration of excluding China from the group. .