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Working Groups

As part of the G20 decision-making process, the Working Groups are in charge of leading the in-depth analysis of a range of internationally relevant issues.

The members are experts from the G20 countries, and they address specific issues linked to the broader G20 agenda, feeding into the Ministerial segments and ultimately the Summit itself.

Each group is coordinated by a representative of the competent Ministry of the country holding the G20 Presidency.

Education

The Education Working Group examines the factors involved in facilitating or hindering the right to education and the achievement of higher education, also in the context of the pandemic. Among its priorities for 2021, overcoming the digital divide and exploring the tools available through digitalization to improve interconnections between education and the job market.

Health

Health threats are directly linked to one of the central objectives of the G20: ensuring economic stability and prosperity. Also in light of the pandemic, the Italian Presidency placed particular emphasis on the working group on health, while also promoting a strong linkage with the Global Health Summit held in Italy in May 2021.

Trade and Investment

The G20 Trade and Investment Working Group was established in 2016. The Group addresses the major issues related to trade and investments and strives to coordinate the action of the G20 countries to strengthen trade and investments worldwide. Under the Italian G20 leadership, the focus was on ensuring a recovery from the negative impacts caused by the pandemic.

Development

The Development Working Group (DWG) was created in 2010. Its has become an essential forum to discuss and promote action on a broad range of issues directly affecting developing countries, especially low-income countries. In 2016, the G20 entrusted the DWG with coordinating and monitoring policy actions across all G20 countries related to the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Digital Economy Task Force

The Digital Economy Task Force, established in 2016, supports the work of the Ministers with competence on issues related to the digital economy and highlights the central role of digital transformation in the broader contest of economic and social growth. Under the Italian Presidency, it built on the foundations set over the previous years and developed new perspectives on digitalization and digital governance.

Anti-Corruption

The Anti-Corruption Working Group sets minimum common standards between the legal systems of the G20 countries, as a means to prevent and combat corruption. The Group has a varied and multidisciplinary composition. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation led the exercise in Italy. The Italian Presidency placed particular emphasis on modern forms of corruption, increasingly linked to economic and organized crime, and on the development of reliable indicators related to particularly exposed sectors, such as sports. A new G20 anti-corruption Action Plan 2022-2024 was adopted.

Employment

The mandate of the group (established in 2014) is to address the priority issues related to labour. The group elaborates shared guidelines aimed at promoting employment, improving working conditions and triggering economic environments able to foster strong, sustainable, balanced and inclusive growth. To this end, it promotes shared responsibility between stakeholders and develops policy principles and methodologies aimed at ensuring an effective implementation of policies and programmes. The Group draws upon technical studies by ILO and the OECD and involves the B20 (employers), L20 (workers), W20 (women) and Y20 (young people) in its activities.

Energy Transition and Climate Sustainability

In recognition of the inextricable nexus between climate change and energy, Italy joined hands between the Climate Sustainability Working Group and the Energy Transition Working Group. During our G20 Presidency we addressed some of the most challenging and pressing issues with the aim of reducing green-house gases emissions, fostering a sustainable energy reality, building a resilient future and ensuring prosperity.
The ETWG, in particular, focused on the future of sustainable cities, on smart grids and innovative clean technologies. It further explored the issues of efficiency and circularity, as key factors for a sustainable, people-centered recovery mindful of the planet and the environment. Universal energy access and eradication of energy poverty will also be high on the agenda, as well as the development of a new concept of energy security, embracing modern and clean energy sources.
The CSWG was centered around the definition of new inclusive and resilient models building on the opportunities that the sustainable recoveries from COVID-19 offer to accelerate energy transition, green economy and environmental sustainability. To achieve this goal we will leverage not only on national public resources, but also on global financial flows progressively aligned in support of the objectives of the Paris Agreement. Climate change adaptation, resilience and nature-based solutions are also central elements of this approach. It aims at combining emission reduction and adaptation, combating biodiversity loss, improving air quality and enhancing the energy efficiency in buildings with positive impacts on health and human well-being.

Environment

Environment and climate change represented one of the three pillars of the Italian Presidency’s G20 agenda, during a year that was marked by a number of key events, such as COP26 on climate change, which was co-chaired by the United Kingdom and Italy. The G20 Environment Deputies Meeting (EDM) focused on facilitating the work of the Environment Ministers, as well as laying the groundwork for the relevant segments of the Leader’s Summit. It helped to connect the G20 with the other relevant multilateral appointments during 2021. Beyond the issue of climate change, which is also within the mandate of the Climate Sustainability Working Group (CSWG), the EDM focused on the protection of biodiversity and on the concepts of sustainability and environmental well-being, including in urban areas.
The documents produced by the working group between May and November 2021 are available here

Culture

The G20 working group was created in support of the first G20 Culture Ministerial Conference, which will be held under Italian Presidency. Its main objective is to bring the issue of Cultural Heritage preservation to the forefront of international attention, with particular focus on illicit trafficking, the linkages between culture and climate change and the interactions between culture, education and training. The working group has enabled the establishment of a network of international experts and supports the Ministers of Culture in making their decisions easier to implement at global level.

Tourism

The Tourism Working Group was created in 2020 in consideration of the key role that the sector plays at global level in terms of economic growth, job creation, preservation of natural and cultural resources and achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. In the current context of crisis generated by the COVID-19, the Group focused its activities on the coordination and sharing of policies and measures to be taken for a rapid recovery of international tourism.

Academics Informal Gathering

The newly established “Academics Informal Gathering” focused on research and higher education. This group set the groundwork for the Research Ministerial, chaired by the Minister for University and Research.

Agriculture

G20 Agriculture Deputies Group was created in 2011 to support the preparation of the Agriculture Ministers Meeting.
It has become an essential forum to strengthen cooperation on the issues of global food security, nutrition, sustainability and resilience of agricultural and food systems, and to address the need to promote the development of sustainable agriculture.

Finance Track

The decisions to establish the G20 (1999) and raise the level of participation at Heads of State and Government (2009) were taken following two major crises that affected the global economy.

Although the topics addressed by the G20 have significantly expanded over the years, the economic themes have maintained a particular importance in the process.

The term “Finance Track” refers to the meetings coordinated by the Ministry of Economy and Finance, aimed at investigating the various aspects related to economic, financial, monetary and tax issues.

This framework is structured into five separate working groups, dedicated to sustainable and inclusive growth, international financial architecture, infrastructure, financial inclusion and Africa. The Finance Track also includes groups on financial regulation and taxation.

Framework Working Group

The Framework Working Group (FWG) monitors the evolution of the global economic outlook, while coordinating policies aimed at underpinning a strong, sustainable, balanced, and inclusive growth. In the wake of the crisis caused by the pandemic, the primary goal of the FWG is to advance economic policy proposals to sustain the global recovery. To this end, the FWG contributes to updating the G20 Action Plan and monitoring progress in implementation.

International Financial Architecture

The International Financial Architecture (IFA) Working Group works to enhance stability and cohesion of the international financial system. It addresses the challenges related to debt sustainability and transparency; strengthening global financial safety nets; volatile capital flows and associated risks; financing for development in low-income countries; coordination between international financial institutions, including multilateral development banks.

Infrastructure Working Group

The Infrastructure Working Group (IWG) advises on policies to improve preparation, financing and management of quality infrastructure investments to secure the provision of inclusive, sustainable and resilient basic infrastructure services to all. The Group aims to tackle the persistent gap in infrastructure investment, also by promoting them as an asset class as to stimulate private sector involvement.

Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion

In 2010, the Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion was created to advance financial inclusion globally as a mean of increasing well-being and achieving a sustainable and inclusive growth. The focus of its action is to enhance the access to, and the use of, responsible formal financial services – also through digital means – for families and businesses. It also helps to promote an adequate financial education and to strengthen financial consumer protection.

For more information: www.gpfi.org

Africa Advisory Group

The Africa Advisory Group (AAG) is responsible, since 2017, for leading the G20 Compact with Africa, with the aim of improving the environment for private investment in African countries and fostering growth and sustainable development. This informal body is co-chaired by Germany and South Africa, and comprises some G20 members, the African Compact Countries, the World Bank, the African Development Bank, the International Monetary Fund and other stakeholders such as the EU Commission and the OECD. The AAG meets twice a year to monitor progresses made by Compact Countries and suggest new policy recommendations based on the Compact Monitoring Report.

Sustainable Finance Working Group

The Sustainable Finance Working Group (SFWG) aims to mobilize sustainable finance as a way of ensuring global growth and stability and promoting the transitions towards greener, more resilient and inclusive societies and economies. The Group is tasked to identify institutional and market barriers to sustainable finance and to develop options to overcome such barriers, and to contribute to a better alignment of the international financial system to the objectives of the 2030 Agenda and the Paris Agreement.