US President Joe Biden meeting with DRC President Felix-Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo on the margins of the G20
US President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. met with President Felix Tshisekedi of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Chair of the African Union (AU) on the margins of the G20.
The two Leaders discussed the shared commitment of the U.S. and the AU to advance global health security and end the COVID-19 pandemic everywhere. They also discussed the recent U.S.-facilitated deal between Moderna and the AU to make up to 110 million vaccine doses available to the AU on an accelerated basis. This is in addition to the 63 million doses of vaccine the U.S. has already shipped to the AU, with more US donated doses delivered each week.
The two Leaders also discussed the imperative of protecting the Congo Basin rainforest, which is the second-largest tropical rainforest in the world, to meet the global goal of reaching net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. President Biden welcomed President Tshisekedi’s efforts to promote transparency, tackle corruption, and respect human rights in how the DRC manages its vast natural resources. They also discussed President Tshisekedi’s efforts as the AU Chair to promote peace and security in Africa, including the need to resolve the widening crisis in Ethiopia and restore the civilian-led transitional government in Sudan.
It should be noted that the G20 is the international forum that brings together the world’s major economies. Its members account for more than 80% of world GDP, 75% of global trade and 60% of the population of the planet.
The forum has met every year since 1999 and includes, since 2008, a yearly Summit, with the participation of the respective Heads of State and Government.
In addition to the Summit, ministerial meetings, Sherpa meetings (in charge of carrying out negotiations and building consensus among Leaders), working groups and special events are organized throughout the year.
On October 30th and 31st 2021 Rome hosts the G20 Heads of State and Government Summit, with the participation of the G20 Heads of State and Government, of their counterparts from invited countries, and of the representatives of some of the main international and regional organizations.
The Ministers of Economy and Finance traditionally also take part in the event. The Summit is the climax of the G20 process and the final stage, at Leaders’ level, of the intense work carried out within Ministerial Meetings, Working Groups and Engagement Groups throughout the year.
The working meetings of Heads of State and Government are held at the Rome Convention Centre ‘La Nuvola’, in the city’s EUR district. The Media Centre is located in the congress arena (‘Palazzo dei Congressi’), in the same district.
At specific times during the programme, a connecting shuttle service will be provided between the two locations, reserved for accredited members of the press and photographers and camera operators belonging to specifically defined media pools.
The Rome Summit is the 16th G20 gathering at the level of Heads of State and Government. The first was held in Washington in November 2008 and the last – held digitally under the Saudi Presidency – in November 2020.
During this G20 meeting, with International economic recovery, climate change, Covid-19 vaccines, the supply chain crisis and energy prices as key issues, World leaders endorsed a landmark global agreement that seeks to block large corporations from shifting profits and jobs across borders to avoid taxes. The global agreement to set minimum levels of corporate taxation is aimed at stopping companies from sheltering revenue in tax havens like Bermuda.
“We reached a historic agreement for a fairer and more equitable tax system,” Prime Minister Mario Draghi of Italy said in remarks opening the summit’s first session. The deal would "end the damaging race to the bottom on corporate taxation", she said in a statement.
The reform plan, already backed by almost 140 countries, seeks to end the practice of big corporates such as Apple and Google parent Alphabet of sheltering profits in low-tax countries.
But no consensus had yet emerged on a collective commitment on climate change, on the eve of the crucial COP26 conference starting in Glasgow on Sunday.
A senior US official said elements of the final G20 statement "are still being negotiated", adding that the Rome summit was about "helping build momentum" before the UN climate talks.
Later in the day, Mr. Biden met with the leaders of Britain, France and Germany to discuss ways to get the 2015 nuclear accord with Iran back on track, one of Mr. Biden’s most elusive diplomatic goals since assuming the presidency. They also wrestled with ways to better unite to address the pandemic.
When the leaders at the summit posed for their “family photo,” they were joined on the platform by doctors in white coats and emergency medical workers from the Italian Red Cross.
Before Saturday’s meeting, health and finance ministers from the nations called for 70 percent of the world’s population to be vaccinated against the coronavirus over the next eight months — an ambitious goal that would require a sharp increase in the amount of vaccines being made available for the developing world.
It would mean addressing the stark inequity that has resulted in G20 countries receiving 15 times more doses per capita than countries in sub-Saharan Africa, according to the science analytics company Airfinity.
The United States has pledged to donate more than one billion doses, the most in the world. And Mr. Biden, who often refers to his skills as a negotiator and his decades of foreign policy experience, is seeking commitments from foreign leaders on other efforts to combat the pandemic.
Wealthy nations also pledged to address climate change. The urgency of the moment has been driven home time and again this year as nations struggled with flooding, fires and other extreme weather events.
The G20 meeting comes just before COP26, a worldwide summit on climate change in Glasgow that could be a make-or-break moment to save a warming planet.
Cassien Tribunal Aungane, Editor
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