Issue Notes (Notas temáticas) are the "guiding principle of Brasil's G20 presidency"

Known as Issue Notes, the documents kicked off the G20's thematic discussions, with strategies for the priority issues of Brazil's presidency of the Forum. Each working group or task force drew up an initial document on topics ranging from climate change to economic inequality, passing through cyber security, health financing and infrastructure. There are a total of 27 guiding documents for the G20 discussions, including those from the Sherpas and Finance tracks.

The G20 Brasil discussions revolve Around the Issue Notes (Notas Temáticas). These documents summarize expert analyses on subjects ranging from the economy and the environment to cyber security and health, are already available to consult and download. The briefing notes play a key role in guiding global policies, with detailed analyses and ways forward for the challenges facing the world. 

In the field of international diplomacy, Issue Notes are important tools for understanding and resolving complex issues. With Brasil taking over the presidency in 2024, the focus of these analyses has increased. 

"We wanted our presidency to have an orientation. We needed clarity internally, but also communicated to the other member countries, about what Brasil wanted from the G20," explained Flávio Pazeto, First Secretary of the Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and in charge of the G20's overall coordination.

Pazeto says that there was a systematized exercise throughout 2023, involving several Brazilian ministries to build the documents, where each working group and task force of the forum shows the Brazilian priorities on the agenda and what it expects as results. "We have a concept note from the presidency and plus 18 thematic notes from the Sherpas Track, plus eight thematic notes from the Finance Track," he explained. 

For the diplomat, the notes are "the general line of the Brazilian government: the fight against inequality, social inclusion. The inclusive character is present in each one, in the digital economy, agriculture, trade and investment, education, health. This is the guideline of the Brazilian presidency; these are the documents that guide the presidency". Brasil's G20 priorities are social inclusion and the fight against hunger and poverty, the promotion of sustainable development in its economic, social and environmental dimensions and energy transitions, and the reform of global governance institutions, including the United Nations and multilateral development banks.

The Issue Notes are like compasses to guide the debates, providing detailed information and guidelines on facing global challenges. During the G20 meetings, the documents are discussed and improved by experts who make up the working groups or task forces. The diversity of perspectives and knowledge contribute to the formulation of more inclusive proposals, reflecting the collaborative spirit of the group.

Global Alliance against Hunger and Poverty

Renato Godinho, Special Advisor for International Affairs at Brasil's Ministry of Development and Social Assistance, Family and Fight against Hunger, helped draft the latest thematic note. For him, "the Issue Note of the Task Force establishing the Global Alliance against Hunger and Poverty is very special, because it didn't exist in the G20, it doesn't have a tradition, unlike many other groups. It was established by determination of President Lula, to create the alliance." 

Renato points out that the unprecedented nature of the document guiding this initiative is due to the absence of a previous debate, posing questions and possibilities for debate and progress on the issue of inequalities. 

"Brasil believes that a Global Alliance is needed, which relates to other existing initiatives, understanding what gaps it fills on the international stage. Both the idea of prioritizing hunger and poverty in the G20 under the Brazilian presidency, and the very approach that was chosen for this proposal. We have decades of experience with social policies, we already know what works," advocates Renato.

For him, the G20 is at a moment of harmonization, systematizing knowledge and building a portfolio of benchmark public policies, with contributions from all the forum's member countries. "We need to get support so that countries can implement these policies, increase the scale of those they already have and the quality of implementation. Not every country is in the position of Brasil, as a middle-income country, which is able to have Bolsa Família, school feeding and support for Family Agriculture. These are policies that have already shown very good results in the fight against hunger and poverty," argues Godinho. 

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