The globe is facing “turbulence,” Chinese President Xi Jinping said Monday as G20 leaders gathered in Brazil, two months before Donald Trump takes office again.
Xi, who has positioned himself as a defender of the global order in the Trump 2.0 era, overshadowed US President Joe Biden, who was attending his final summit of the world’s top economies.
World leaders are gathering for two days in an attempt to restart the UN climate talks that have stalled, resolve their disagreements over the wars in the Middle East and Ukraine, and increase taxes on the wealthy.
Xi told British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, seemingly in reference to the return of China hawk Trump, “The world is currently entering a new age of turbulence and change.”
Striking inside Russia
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz reiterated Xi’s comments, saying that “the world is changing” and calling on the European Union to swiftly complete a massive trade agreement with South American nations.
Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, the president of Brazil, was using his hosting role to advocate for left-wing causes that were important to him, such as combating hunger and climate change.
He introduced the main initiative of his G20 presidency at the start of the summit: a Global Alliance against Poverty and Hunger, supported by 81 nations, with the goal of feeding half a million people by 2030.
The 79-year-old host, who is working to shift international politics in a non-aligned direction, stated before to the summit that he would try to deflect conversations away from the hostilities in Ukraine and the Middle East.
“Because if not, we will not discuss other things which are more important for people that are not at war,” he stated.
However, Biden’s choice to permit Ukraine, which Moscow invaded in 2022, to launch long-range US missiles inside Russia raises the possibility of escalating a conflict that Trump has promised to terminate swiftly.
On Monday, Russia threatened to take “appropriate action” if strong weapons from the West were to strike Russian territory.
During his last G20 meeting, Biden defended Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty.
Scholz, however, stated that he would not be adopting Washington’s strategy for long-range weapons.
“The powerful weapons we have supplied so far… the long-range artillery, the rocket launchers, cannot be used to penetrate deep into the Russian hinterland,” he said.
A Brazilian foreign ministry official told The Ultimate News that certain nations attempted to rework a previously agreed-upon draft summit communiqué, indicating differences.
The insider told The Ultimate News, “The text is already finalised for Brazil and other countries, but some countries want to open up some points on wars and climate.”
Pressure for a climate deal
The UN climate talks in Azerbaijan have stuck on the topic of more climate finance for developing nations, and G20 leaders are being pressured to attempt to restart them.
The largest economies in the world, which are responsible for 80% of global emissions, have been urged by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to demonstrate “leadership” on the issue in Rio.
In order to help developing nations deal with global warming, the UN is requesting $1 trillion annually.
However, wealthy nations are delaying, claiming that they want rapidly growing economies like China and the Gulf states to contribute as well.
The gathering takes place in the midst of yet another dire string of extreme weather occurrences, such as Brazil’s worst wildfire season in over ten years, which was exacerbated by a record drought that was at least partially attributed to climate change.
The gathering concludes Biden’s farewell diplomatic journey, which included the first visit to the Amazon by a sitting US president and a meeting with Asia-Pacific trading partners in Lima.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose arrest is wanted by the International Criminal Court in connection with the war in Ukraine, is conspicuously missing from the meeting.
Taxing billionaires
Strategies to increase the taxation of billionaires will also be discussed at the conference.
According to reports, Argentine President Javier Milei has opposed Lula, boasting that Trump’s low-tax, cost-cutting policies are his inspiration.
On Monday, a source from Brazil’s foreign ministry played down the possibility that Argentina would obstruct a final declaration.