The probably last G-20 summit with Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) has begun. The only executive head of government is taking part in the conference of the most important economic powers in Rome together with her finance minister and likely successor Olaf Scholz (SPD). The aim is to demonstrate continuity in German foreign policy in view of the upcoming change of government. In the afternoon, both want to meet with US President Joe Biden.
Before the start of the summit, the police in the Italian capital in the southern district of EUR (Esposizione Universale di Roma) a blockade of a few dozen climate activists. In the morning, the demonstrators tried to paralyze traffic in front of the Italian Ministry for Ecological Transition in Via Cristoforo Colombo. As the police confirmed when asked, the participants in the demonstration had sat down on the multi-lane carriageway leading to the La Nuvola (the cloud) convention center, where the summit of the 20 most important industrialized and emerging countries is taking place.
Photos and videos showed how police, wearing helmets and signs, carried away demonstrators. According to the Ansa news agency, the activists shouted: “Se non cambierà bloccheremo la città” (German: “If nothing changes, we block the city”).
Two more demonstrations are expected in Rome in the afternoon. The Communist Party wanted to assemble in the Piazza di San Giovanni in Laterno, east of the Colosseum. A little later, among other things, a demonstration by climate activists who wanted to move towards the historic center is planned. Several thousand participants are expected.
Fight against Corona and the economic consequences
The first day of the summit will be about the fight against corona and the economic consequences of the pandemic. The most important economic powers want to work to ensure that at least 70 percent of the population in all countries worldwide will be vaccinated against Corona by next September. The health and finance ministers had supported this goal of the World Health Organization (WHO) at their meeting on Friday. However, it is still unclear what the G20 will do to achieve this goal.
In light of the economic impact of the pandemic, development organizations have called for more support for poorer countries. At the start of the summit, the World Vision organization called for simplified loans for developing countries and an extension of the debt moratorium agreed in April.
“If the G20 does not make a quick and clear decision to tackle the debt and hunger crisis, the effects of fighting the pandemic in poorer countries will be much worse,” said Dirk Bathe of World Vision. People could no longer afford food, and national economies would be destabilized. “That harbors enormous potential for conflict with lasting consequences.” Already today, more than 800 million people suffered from a lack of food.
Worldwide food prices have risen by around 40 percent – the highest increase in more than a decade. “The G20 must help make the economic recovery after the Corona crisis fairer and, in particular, tackle the global hunger problem,” said Jörn Kalinski from Oxfam. Climate change with extreme weather is also threatening the livelihoods of millions of people – mostly poor, who have contributed the least to global warming.