Strengthen Global Governance & Ease Geopolitical Tensions

There is a lot at stake during this transitional year. The Italian G20 Summit in October and the run-up to it, either raises the intensity and shifts the focus of the public governance discourse, or the world will muddle forward on incrementalist change which is a business-as-usual scenario. None of us involved in this Global Solutions Summit think that will work. The focus needs to be on "transformational change" and on specific reforms of the G20 which will empower it to lead the "narrative" of systemic transformation in order to reconnect global political leadership to people. There is no going back to normal. This session will put forward a set of ideas that are specific, practical, feasible and credible to create a "new political dynamic" that can strengthen global governance by energizing and reforming the G20 as a platform for political leadership, rather than talking over the heads of people. There are three main topics for this session: Recommended reforms of the G20 to empower it to lead concerted global efforts to address threats to survival and to achieve systemic transformation. The potential of plurilateral leadership within the G20 to drive forward the people and planetcentered action agenda necessary to achieve social and environmental sustainability. The inclusion of China in the plurilateral leadership of the G20 as a means of achieving “managed strategic competition”. Key Messages: The year 2021 is a rare moment in world history in which a confluence of social, environmental, racial, economic and geopolitical crises create opportunities and imperatives for systemic responses to systemic challenges.