“We are One Earth, One Family, and we share One Future.” This is the opening sentence of the Group of 20 (G20) New Delhi Leaders’ Declaration, in which the leaders pledge to “leverage the G20’s convening power and its collective resolve to fully and effectively implement the 2030 Agenda and accelerate progress toward the SDGs.”

The G20 leaders met in New Delhi, India, from 9-10 September 2023. As per the 37-page-long outcome document, the leaders’ commitments contained in the Declaration reflect “the philosophy of living in harmony with our surrounding ecosystem.”

The leaders acknowledge the role of G20 cooperation in determining the course the world takes. They recognize the “cascading challenges and crises [that] have reversed gains” on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its SDGs, including climate change, biodiversity loss, pollution, land degradation and desertification, rising commodity prices and cost-of-living pressures, poverty, inequality, and conflicts. The leaders “affirm that no country should have to choose between fighting poverty and fighting for our planet.”

The leaders resolve to act through partnerships to, among other actions:

• Accelerate strong, sustainable, balanced, and inclusive growth;
• Accelerate the full and effective implementation of the 2030 Agenda;
• Pursue low-carbon, climate-resilient, and environmentally sustainable development pathways;
• Scale up financing from all sources for accelerating progress on the SDGs; and
• Pursue reforms for better, bigger, and more effective Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs), to address global challenges and maximize impact.

The leaders commit to “taking collective action for effective and timely implementation of the G20 2023 Action Plan to Accelerate Progress on the SDGs,” including through actions on eliminating hunger and malnutrition, strengthening global health and implementing One Health approach, and delivering quality education, with culture acting as a transformative driver of the SDGs.

The New Delhi Leaders’ Declaration outlines a Green Development Pact for a Sustainable Future, including efforts to mainstream Lifestyles for Sustainable Development (LiFE), design a circular economy world, and implement clean, sustainable, just, affordable, and inclusive energy transitions.

Among other actions, they commit to “increase our efforts to implement the commitment made in 2009 in Pittsburgh
to phase-out and rationalise, over the medium term, inefficient fossil fuel subsidies that encourage wasteful consumption and commit to achieve this objective, while providing targeted support for the poorest and the most vulnerable.” 

The leaders note that “a more inclusive and reinvigorated multilateralism,” International Financial Institutions (IFI) reform, and efforts to manage global debt vulnerabilities are needed to help achieve sustainable development. The Declaration also includes commitments relating to technological transformation and digital public infrastructure, gender equality, and creating a more inclusive world.

On 9 September, on the sidelines of the G20 Summit, the leaders of India, Singapore, Bangladesh, Italy, the US, Brazil, Argentina, Mauritius, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) launched the Global Biofuel Alliance (GBA). An initiative by India as the G20 Chair, the Alliance intends to foster global collaboration on and expedite the global uptake of biofuels. 

The G20 leaders will meet in Brazil in 2024, in South Africa in 2025, and in the US in 2026.

The G20 is made up of 19 countries and the EU. The 19 countries are Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Germany, France, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Mexico, the Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Türkiye, the UK, and the US. [G20 New Delhi Summit]