The "G20" Summit Kicks Off in Rome, And Climate Issues, Economy And Vaccines At The Top Of Its Agenda

Baghdad / NINA / - The Group of Twenty summit will start today in Rome, over two days, face-to-face between its leaders and presidents, with the absence of several leaders, in light of clear divergence in the positions of countries on many of the issues raised. The leaders of the Group of Twenty, who are meeting from today, Saturday in Rome, after a two-year hiatus due to Coronavirus, will discuss issues ranging from combating the Covid-19 and climate issues, and reviving the global economy, especially debts and taxes, and regional conflicts such as Afghanistan, Libya, Sudan and others. The leaders of the G20 are taking advantage of the opportunity to meet in person for the first time since the start of the Coronavirus pandemic, to hold bilateral meetings or in small groups. Today, Saturday, US Presidents Joe Biden and French Emmanuel Macron, as well as German Chancellor Angela Merkel and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, will meet to agree on the resumption of nuclear negotiations with Iran. Emmanuel Macron, who devoted Friday to reconciliation with Joe Biden after the submarine crisis, will meet tomorrow, Sunday. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson against the backdrop of the emerging crisis between the two countries over fishing areas following the United Kingdom's exit from the European Union. For his part, Argentine President Alberto Fernandez hopes to discuss the issue of his country's debt with the Director-General of the International Monetary Fund, Kristalina Georgieva. On Friday, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in Rome: "We still have a long way to go in terms of all our climate goals, and we must move forward. It is not too late, but we must act now." Guterres had previously sounded the alarm several times, warning of a "climate catastrophe" in the future, stressing the "special responsibility" of the G20 countries, which represent the bulk of global emissions of greenhouse gases. "We can still put things on the right track, and this G20 meeting is an opportunity to do that," Guterres stressed. For his part, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on his plane to the Italian capital: "We will not stop climate warming in Rome or during the COP26 meeting; all we can hope for is to slow the rise in temperature." Johnson reiterated "the ability to abandon coal" during a phone call Friday with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, who will not participate in person, like Russian President Vladimir Putin, in the G20 summit, but rather via video conference technology. Heads of state and government will head to Glasgow immediately after the G20 summit ends Sunday in Rome, but their ability to agree during these two days on strong climate commitments is not guaranteed, according to experts. The recurring shortages of goods and materials in the global supply chain, which threaten to negatively affect the pace of economic recovery, imposed themselves on the agenda of the Rome meetings on Saturday and Sunday, which will also address the debt of the world's poorest countries, and efforts aimed at vaccinating the population to combat the Covid-19 pandemic. The only progress guaranteed during this G-20 summit concerns the global tax. It is expected that the highest political levels will approve the imposition of a global minimum tax on multinational corporations./ End