G20 Summit

• 23 Nov 2020

Why in News

Recently, at the G20 (Group of Twenty) summit held virtually India called for a “New Global Index” for the post-Corona world .

• New Global Index will be based on 4 pillars of
  
  • Talent,
  • Technology,
  • Transparency and
  • Trusteeship towards the planet.
• This year's summit was hosted by Saudi Arabia.

Key Points

• Talent:
  
  • The focus must shift to multi-skilling and reskilling from capital and finance to create a vast human talent pool.
  • Indian initiatives such as the National Skill Development Mission (NSDM) which aims to create convergence across sectors and States in terms of skill training activities is already in direction of creating a vast human talent pool.
  • India’s New Education policy and programmes such as Pradhan Mantri Innovative Learning Program (DHRUV) are well aligned with this element.
• Technology:
  
  • Ensuring that technology reaches all segments of the society and the value of new technologies should be measured by their benefit to humanity.
  • India suggested that as follow-up action and creation of a G20 virtual secretariat as a repository of documentation.
  • Digitial India and E-governance campaigns of India have increased people's access to technology and other government services.
• Transparency:
  
  • Reforms such as Right to Information and Ease of Doing Business promote transparency in governance in India.
• Trusteeship:
  
  • The world should deal with the environment and nature as trustees rather than owners which would inspire us towards a holistic and healthy lifestyle.
  • Climate change must be fought not in silos but in an integrated, comprehensive and holistic way.
  • A principle whose benchmark could be a per capita carbon footprint. A carbon footprint is the amount of greenhouse gases primarily carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere by a particular human activity.
• Future meetings: Italy in 2021, Indonesia in 2022, India in 2023 and Brazil in 2024.

India's Initiatives for Lowering Emissions

• Infrastructure Push: India’s next-generation infrastructure push will not only be convenient and efficient, but will also contribute to a cleaner environment. E.g.: Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure, announced by the Prime Minister at the Hamburg G20 meet in 2017. This will act as a convening body that will pool best practices and resources from around the world for reshaping construction, transportation, energy, telecommunication and water, so that building in these core infrastructure sectors factors in natural catastrophes.
• Producing Clean Energy: The India-France joint initiative of International Solar Alliance (ISA).
  
  • ISA will contribute to reducing carbon foot-print.
  • India will meet its goal of 175 GigaWatts of renewable energy as a part of its climate commitments made under the paris climate deal well before the target of 2022.
  • Unnat Jyoti by Affordable LEDs for All (UJALA) and LED Street Lighting National Programme (SLNP) scheme has made LED lights popular, saving around 38 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions per year.
  • Ujjwala Scheme: Smoke-free kitchens have been provided to over 80 million households making it among the largest clean energy drives globally.
• Combat Desertification: The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) links development and environment to sustainable land management and aims to combat desertification and the ill-effects of drought.
• Clean Air & Water: The National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) aims to decrease air pollution and Namami Gange program seeks to rejuvenate river Ganga and show the spirit of trusteeship in governance.

G20

• It is an informal group of 19 countries and the European Union, with representatives of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
• The G20 membership comprises a mix of the world’s largest advanced and emerging economies, representing about two-thirds of the world’s population, 85% of global gross domestic product, 80% of global investment and over 75% of global trade.
• Members: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States, and the European Union.

Source:IE