G20 Summit Opens in Rio, BrazilKia and Climate Issues are Key Agenda

The 19th G20 Summit has opened in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The Associated Press and other foreign media reported that most of the G20 leaders, including Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula Dasuba, President Yoon Suk Yeol, U.S. President Joe Biden, Chinese President Xi Jinping, and Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, attended the G20 summit, which will be held for two days from the 18th local time.

The theme of this G20 summit is "Building a Just World and a Sustainable Earth," which is expected to mainly deal with poverty and the climate crisis.

The Brazilian government said the G20 member states concluded talks on social inclusion, combating hunger and poverty, responding to the climate crisis and energy transition through the Sherpa conference, which oversees preparations for the summit, and completed the draft summit declaration.

The declaration, which is being finalised, also included a willingness to work to overcome differences over the modernization and reform of the United Nations and other global governance agencies, the war in Ukraine and the conflict in the Middle East, and the final text could be agreed upon in a rather comprehensive way, local media said.

In particular, as the meeting will be held ahead of the return of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, leaders will also exchange views on the climate crisis and environmental issues.

Earlier, U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres urged "G20 member states, which account for 80% of global carbon emissions, to show leadership to facilitate the agreement."

Brazil has also urged billionaires to impose a wealth tax of at least 2% to combat poverty and climate change, but the meeting is not expected to make much progress as the United States and Argentina are protesting.