Speech by President Lula at the Second Session of the G20 Leaders' Meeting: Reform of Global Governance Institutions

The G20's history is intertwined with the shocks suffered by the global economy over recent decades.

Timely action prevented the 2008 crisis from leading to a catastrophic collapse.

The reformist impetus was insufficient to correct the excesses of market deregulation and the defense of a minimal state.

At the time, they chose savings banks instead of helping people.

It was decided that the private sector should be saved instead of strengthening the state.

It was decided that central economies should be prioritized instead of supporting developing countries. 

The world has grown again, but the wealth generated has not reached those most needy.

It is no surprise that inequality fosters hatred, extremism, and violence — nor that democracy is under threat.

Neoliberal globalization has failed. 

In the midst of growing turbulence, the international community seems resigned to navigating aimlessly through hegemonic disputes.

We remain adrift as if swept along by a current that is pushing us toward tragedy.

But confrontation is not a fatality.

To deny this is to give up our responsibility.

Around this table are the leaders of the largest economies and regional blocs on the planet. 

There is no one better placed than us to change the course of humanity.

This year, global governance reform entered the G20 agenda for good. 

For the first time, the group went to the UN and approved, with the endorsement of forty other countries, a Call to Action.

But this call is just a wake-up call.

The Security Council's omission has itself been a threat to international peace and security. 

The indiscriminate use of the veto makes the Security Council hostage to the five permanent members.

From Iraq to Ukraine, from Bosnia to Gaza, there is a growing realization that not every territory’s integrity deserves respect and that not every life has the same value.

Disastrous interventions have overturned order in Afghanistan and Libya.

Indifference has relegated Sudan and Haiti to oblivion.

Unilateral sanctions produce suffering and hit the most vulnerable.

The Bretton Woods institutions imposed obstacles to the very sustainable development goals they were supposed to promote.

Recent impasses around the Pandemic Treaty, the Pact for the Future, and the Biodiversity COP in Cali show that diplomacy is losing ground to intransigence.

There should be no banned debates or insurmountable red lines.

For this reason, Brazil proposed in New York to convene a conference to revise the UN Charter under the terms of Article 109.

Only 51 of the current 193 members of the United Nations took part in its foundation.

There is also an urgent need to review financial rules and policies that disproportionately affect developing countries.

African countries' external debt is greater than their resources to finance their infrastructure, health, and education.

International tax cooperation is crucial to reducing inequalities.

Studies commissioned by the G20 Finance Track are revealing.

A 2% tax on the wealth of the super-rich could generate resources of around 250 billion dollars a year to be invested in tackling the social and environmental challenges of our time.

Global stability depends on more representative institutions. A plurality of voices acts as a balancing vector.

The future will be multipolar. Accepting this reality paves the way for peace.

It is also key to building governance that maximizes the opportunities and mitigates the risks of Artificial Intelligence.

The answer to the crisis of multilateralism is more multilateralism.

We do not have to wait for a new world war or an economic collapse to bring about the transformations that the international order needs.

In 1940, the Brazilian poet Carlos Drummond de Andrade wrote a poem called “Congresso Internacional do Medo” (International Congress of Fear), which reflected the feeling that prevailed amid the Second World War.

To prevent the title of this poem from once again describing global governance, we must not let the fear of dialog triumph.

Thank you very much, my friends.