Bali, 5 October 2022 – Civil 20 (C20) has successfully delivered the C20 Policy Pack – a document containing a series of policy recommendations on various issues – to the G20 on the opening day of the C20 Summit in Hilton Resorts Hotel, Nusa Dua, Bali. C20 Summit is a coming-together event of the world’s most spirited thinkers, activists and ideas focused on the promotion of social problem solutions which involve active participation of civil society organizations as well as the grassroot communities.
The participation of the C20 Summit has recorded a large number of attendants. It reaches 566 national delegates from Indonesia and 55 international delegates who attend the event in person and 280 national and 150 international participants attending the event virtually, and all came from 280 civil society organizations in 55 countries. Opened by the remarks of Mr. Tjokorda Oka Artha Ardana Sukawati, the Vice Governor of Bali Province, the C20 Summit aims to finalize the C20 Policy Pack and officially hand over the Communique to the Indonesian government as the leader of G20 this year.
Throughout the 3 days event, the participants will join numerous activities at the Summit, from public dialogues, exhibitions, flashmob, to art and music festivals. This high spirited participation comes along with the importance of the submission of the C20 Policy Pack as part of the intervention from the global civil society to produce a concrete result of a just inclusive policy in the G20.
“We call on all leaders of the G20 to end their own self-interests and work as a united front to solve the crises. It is time to collaborate in promoting world peace and humanity by enhancing recovery efforts to solve the current global situation”, states Sugeng Bahagijo, the C20 Chair.
Read by the Coordinators from seven C20 Working Groups, the policy pack was responded by Sri Mulyani Indrawati, the Minister of Finance of the Republic of Indonesia; Yustinus Prastowo, Special Staff to the Minister of Finance of Indonesia; Yudo Dwinanda Priaadi, Expert Staff to the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources for Strategic Planning; Sigit Reliantoro, Co-chair of Environment Deputies Meeting – Climate Sustainability Working Group (EDM-CS WG) of the G20; H.E. Ambassador Armando Gonzalo Alvarez Reina, the Ambassador of Mexico to the Republic of Indonesia and ASEAN; and H.E. Ambassador Shri Manoj Kumar Bharti, the Ambassador of India to the Republic of Indonesia.
“The world will face more complex challenges in the future, and it requires a concerted effort from all stakeholders to leave no one behind. I hope C20 continues its role as a platform to voice people’s aspirations, and work together with G20 by not only providing insights and expertise, but also ensuring that governments are accountable for their commitments” stated Sri Mulyani Indrawati, the Minister of Finance of the Republic of Indonesia during her response to the C20 Policy Pack presented by C20 Coordinators.
There are several points why the G20 leaders must not ignore the C20 recommendations. First, the C20 prioritizes issues that reflect the principle of justice, equality, inclusiveness, collaboration and sharing financial resources. To illustrate, the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted global development and has caused misery to millions of people, especially those in developing countries. Equal access to COVID-19 vaccines across nations has yet to be achieved. As of August 2022 only 20.3% of the population on the African continent have been fully vaccinated; meanwhile half of the countries in Europe have achieved more than an 85% vaccination rate and have already initiated booster shots. The climate crisis prolonged by indecisive actions of world leaders has also caused the dramatic convergence of crises.
“We truly hope to optimize the C20 platform to amplify our call to accelerate action on issues prioritized by the C20 coalition, including just energy transition through setting clear targets and policies to curb carbon emissions in G20 countries, and prioritizing the shift to more sustainable sources of energy for a truly secure future for all, that leaves no one behind. In this context, we recognize the significant role of the global financial sector in taking this agenda forward, and we urge G20 leaders to ensure that the sector also implements clear policies and regulations that align with the Paris Agreement; and to ensure that international financial institutions also transparently and accountably deliver on their commitments evidenced by public disclosures on their progress”, asserts Bernadette Victorio, the C20 International Advisory Committee.
Second, the C20 answers the priority agenda raised by the Indonesian G20 by focusing the recommendation on the issues of (i) Just and Inclusive Global Health Architecture, (ii) Climate Justice and Just Energy Transition, (iii) Tax Justice and Inclusive Sustainable Finance and (iv) Inclusive Digital Transformation.
“Taking into account the urgency of gender equality, persons with disabilities, humanitarian action, civic space and anti-corruption, sustainable climate action, C20 addresses them as cross-cutting issues and therefore make sure no one is left behind”, says Risnawati Utami, Sous Sherpa of C20.
Third, the civil society recommendations serve as the balancing aspect that minimizes – if not eradicates – the ‘business as usual’ characteristic that may appear in the decision making process in the G20 amid the international turmoil, for instance, the energy, food and financial crises that have been exacerbated by the Ukraine-Russia war. Moreover, numerous G20 ministerial meetings have failed to produce joint ministerial declarations and this has become a huge concern for civil society organizations, as it shows that the G20 has not been able to put aside their differences,and instead focus on their own interests.
Fourth, the C20 as the platform for civil society voices out the evidence-based aspirations of the people of the world, the end user of the G20 resolutions. The C20 recommendations perform a key role to remind the G20 leaders to achieve just policies that work well to protect humans and put humanity first. Therefore, the G20 leaders must consider and take real action to these recommendations to solve global issues by adopting participatory, inclusive and sustainable approaches.
“Today is a monumental event for CSOs across the world after Covid-19 pandemic. The C20 Summit is a peak and a result of inclusive and collaborative works of C20 across the globe. We, as global citizens, would like to remind and recall the G20, and all of us to put aside all differences and prioritize crisis resolution to ensure just recovery for all citizens across the world”, concludes Ah Maftuchan, the C20 Sherpa.
Contact person:
Ah Maftuchan, Sherpa of the C20 Indonesia
E: c20.secretariat@g20-indonesia.id
About the Civil 20 (C20):
C20 is one of the official Engagement Groups of the G20. It provides a platform for Civil Society Organizations (CSO) around the world to voice the people’s aspirations with the world’s leaders in the G20. The C20 engages more than 800 civil societies representatives and networks from various countries beyond the members of the G20.
Under the leadership of G20 Indonesia Presidency, the C20 engagement process has officially started since the Kick-off Meeting on March 7-8, 2022 in Bali, witnessed by more than 668 participants from 57 countries. On 27-28 July, 2022, C20 had the opportunity to have a dialogue with stakeholders through the Policy Dialogue forum in Jakarta, attended by 241 participants from 20 national G20 members and 100 online participants. The G20 Co-Sherpa, Edi Prio Pambudi, and the G20 Deputy for Finance, Wempi Saputra, were active as speakers at the meeting. In order to follow up on the Policy Dialogue, an expert meeting in Jakarta on August 30-31 was also held to ensure concrete recommendations and refine the Policy Pack & Communique. C20’s work for six months after the Kick Off Meeting in collecting evidence, dialogue with grassroots communities, discussing with stakeholders, and consulting nationally and internationally has resulted in more than 20 recommendations that can be adopted by the G20. As of today, 65 countries from 5 continents and more than 350 civil society organizations from around the world (34% of it is Indonesian and 66% of it is international) have joined as C20 members.
The Civil Society 20 (C20) Summit is a convening ahead of the G20 Leaders Summit 2022, which is hosted by Indonesia, as the leader of this year’s C20. The C20 Summit is a civil society-led event bringing together civil societies from across G20 countries as well as other countries around the world particularly the global south to discuss and debate the G20 Leaders’ agenda, the priority issues to be proposed to the G20 leaders, and officially handover the final Communique to G20 leader.