Lessons learned? World leaders gather for Rome G20 amid calls for greater global cooperation

Not far from central Rome’s patchwork of cobblestones, narrow alleys and mass tourism is the lesser-known district of wide avenues and clean architectural lines set to play host to the G20 summit this weekend.

Envisioned in 1935 by Italian dictator Benito Mussolini, the EUR (Esposizione Universale Roma) neighbourhood in south Rome was built for the 1942 world’s fair and as a celebration of two decades of Fascist rule.

For years Mussolini watched as his ambitious plan came to life, undisturbed by the advent of World War Two, until the project was forced to shut down in 1942 and the Expo cancelled, leaving in its wake an incomplete neighbourhood of Rationalist buildings.

This weekend, Mussolini’s unrealised dream of gleaming white marble and strong geometric forms will become the backdrop to a very different kind of global event, as representatives of the world’s largest economies descend on EUR’s Cloud Convention Centre.

Headed by Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi, the summit follows months of meetings and talks on some of the world’s most pressing issues, including climate change, the COVID-19 pandemic and food security.

But experts warn that tackling these matters will require more than summits. If they’re to make headway on solving at least some global crises, world leaders should invest in multilateralism.

“As the pandemic has shown us, the only answer and management of future crises is multilateralism,” said Teresa Coratella of the European Council on Foreign Relations.

The European Union’s strained relations with Russia, for example, haven’t quashed the ongoing dialogue between the two. Instead, it was President Joe Biden’s unexpected one-sided approach on Afghanistan that ruffled feathers and took Europe aback in August.

“Washington did not talk to Europe as a transatlantic partner, but a simple interlocutor,” said Coratella. “Considering what Draghi’s political stance has been since he became prime minister, the main topic of discussion at the G20 will be how multilateralism should become the main framework of action for upcoming crises.”

Indeed Draghi is expected to double down on the need for multilateral relations during the summit. But Biden, who met Pope Francis ahead of the talks, has brushed off accusations of American unilateralism.

“After a lot of commentary in recent weeks about the state of the transatlantic relationship, the United States and Europe head into these two summits aligned and united on the major elements of the global agenda,” Biden’s National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told the press, referring to the G20 and UN Climate Change Conference (COP26).

Among other issues, said Sullivan, the US and the EU are working together for joint action on COVID-19. But not everyone is convinced they are doing their best.

A statement by Amnesty International on Wednesday accused rich countries of hoarding and contributing to vaccine scarcity and called on them to do more.

“The sheer selfishness and greed behind these [Covid] deaths is unfathomable. While G20 countries enjoy vaccination rates of around 63 percent, only 10 percent of the population in low and lower-middle income countries have been able to get vaccinated,” said Amnesty International Secretary General Agnès Callamard.

World leaders are also being urged to address the employment impact of the pandemic. On Wednesday the UN’s International Labour Organization warned that the loss of working hours in 2021 because of COVID-19 are higher than expected and significantly worse for developing countries.

Climate change will also be high on the agenda as leaders prepare for the COP26, a 12-day event that aims to secure tangible action from the countries that agreed to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels. According to the German Federal Statistical Office the G20 is responsible for around 80 percent of global CO2 emissions.

The EU and the UK are both expected to reiterate their 2050 net zero target in a bid to sway other leaders, including Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whose government has refused to commit to the plan on the basis that it is a developing country.

“If countries like the US, UK, Australia, Italy and Canada want the world to take them seriously as climate leaders, they need to deliver on the $100 billion annual they promised in 2009 to help countries that have historically emitted vastly less emissions cope with the life-shattering impacts of climate change,” said Avaaz campaign director Oscar Soria. “If we are to expect other countries to make good on their climate commitments rich nations must show leadership by delivering on their promises.”

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Members of the Thunberg-inspired Fridays For Future movement are expected to take to Rome’s streets on Saturday to demand tangible action against climate change. The protest, the group said in a statement, will be aimed at "the same powers, the same interests, the same injustices that led us to the climate crisis".

Rome will see several other marches and flash mobs on Saturday, including a sit-in against Draghi’s government by the Italian Communist Party.

“The fight against the Draghi government, against its injustices, starting with the discrimination of workers through the Green Pass, cannot be separated from the fight against the EU and NATO,” said Communist Party leader Marco Rizzo. “This is why we have chosen the day of the G20, when the world powers meet to divvy up their attacks on the popular classes around the world.”

Tens of thousands of people are expected to join in the various protests and more than 5,000 security forces will be deployed across the capital. Drones and military technology will also be employed, and a 10 square kilometre red zone will be set up in EUR to assure maximum security.

“Security forces are entrusted by the Constitution to ensure safety, the increase in security measures doesn’t worry us … we are ready to reject any provocation, wherever it may come from, to ensure a serene and peaceful protest,” said Rizzo.