B20 Inception Meeting
The first official meeting of the B20, the official G20 dialogue forum with the business community, took place last January 21-22.
January 26th, 2021
The event marked the official beginning of the Italian presidency of the B20, addressing the global economy’s most urgent challenges. Its agenda was split into two different segments.
January 21st (Day 1) was a public event, opened by the B20 Chair, Emma Marcegaglia, the President of Confindustria, Carlo Bonomi, and – on behalf of the Italian Government – the Minister of Economy and Finance, Roberto Gualtieri. To follow, a line-up of esteemed and prominent international speakers from politics, international organizations and CEOs of major companies led panel sessions entitled: “Providing Sustainable Economic Recovery”; “Redesigning the post-Covid19 world economy”; and “Making global governance more effective”. Speakers included John Kerry, United States Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, Larry Fink, CEO of BlackRock, David Sassoli, President of the European Parliament, David Beasley, Executive Director of the World Food Program, David Walker, Chair of the WTO General Council, Dario Scannapieco, Vice President of the European Investment Bank and Michael R. Bloomberg, Founder of Bloomberg L.P. and Bloomberg Philanthropies.
“Italy’s G20 cycle faces epochal challenges but can be a game changer. Business is committed to ensuring that 2021 is remembered for social, economic and environmental regeneration worldwide.” With these words, President of Confindustria Carlo Bonomi opened the Inception Meeting. The B20 Chair, Emma Marcegaglia, pointed out the importance of a true and fruitful partnership between the B20 and the G20: “Business can help governments and International Organizations prompt resilience plans and contingency responses. We are determined to achieve concrete results and will convey policy recommendations that we hope will be considered and adopted over the coming months. To ensure the best possible synergy with the G20, we will estimate their impact towards the UN SDGs and the 3Ps of the G20: People, Planet and Prosperity”.
Day 2 (January 22nd) was limited to the B20 members. In the first plenary session, the seven Task Forces and the Action Council Chair summed up the main features of the inception documents, outlining the activity of the B20 for the course of this year. Subsequently, the groups met separately for a more in-depth assessment of their respective issues.
As the private sector’s official voice to the G20, the B20 2021 includes over 1.000 delegates from the G20 countries, including top executives of the major multinational corporations, and 3,000 overall participants representing a community of more than 6.5 million businesses.
The B20 Italy 2021 motto – “Reshape the Future: Include, Share and Impact” – testifies the determination of the business community to stand alongside and to support the G20 in dealing with the unprecedented awaiting the international community.
Over the next few months, the B20 Italy’s seven Task Forces and the Action Council will work intensely to develop impactful and differentiated policy recommendations that will be handed over to the G20 Presidency on the occasion of the B20 Final Summit, to be held in Rome on October 7-8.
These Task Forces will cover the following wide range of issues: Energy and Resource Efficiency; Trade and Investments; Integrity and Compliance; Employment and Education; Digital Transformation, Finance and Infrastructure; and Health and Life Science. An Action Council dedicated to Sustainability and Global Emergencies will address the G20 on how to face systemic threats under a sustainability-oriented and coordinated framework. Furthermore, at the Inception meeting a Special Initiative on Women Empowerment was announced, aimed at generating strong policy recommendations through a transparent and inclusive interaction with other stakeholders and G20 Engagement Groups.
For more information, please visit the B20 2021 official website: www.b20italy2021.org