The G20 Development Working Group held its third meeting under the Italian G20 Presidency to take stock of the outcomes of the Ministerial Sessions held at the end of June, advance the work on the deliverables of the G20 sustainable development agenda and increase synergies with the G20 Finance Track.
The Development Working Group (DWG) met on July 27th and 28th, for the third time under the Italian Presidency. The meeting was attended by delegates from G20 members and invited countries and representatives from international and regional organisations.
The two-day meeting gave G20 members the opportunity to discuss the outcomes of the Ministerial Sessions held at the end of June and the state of play on the key priority areas in the field of sustainable development: 1) Financing for Sustainable Development, 2) Territorial Development and SDG Localisation and 3) the 2021 Rome Update and the Accountability process.
G20 delegations underlined the success of the first-ever Joint Foreign Affairs and Development Ministerial Meeting and Development Ministerial Meeting, held in Matera on June 29, and of te Ministerial Event on Humanitarian Assistance held in Brindisi on June 30. With these meetings, the G20 countries reaffirmed their commitment to addressing the impacts of the pandemic and the crisis on developing countries and raised the profile of the development agenda within the G20.
The Group also conveyed wide support for the progress made so far on the priority areas of work. The meetings of the Thematic Groups held during the first semester of 2021 proved very useful to facilitate the advancement of the DWG agenda, thanks to the contributions of developing countries, international organisations, civil society organisations, G20 engagement groups and other stakeholders.
During the session on Territorial Development and Localisation of the SDGs, G20 delegates discussed scope and operational aspects of the main deliverables in this area: a G20 Platform on SDG Localisation and Intermediary Cities, whose launch is foreseen by the end of 2021, G20 High-Level Principles, and the development of a Compendium on city-to-city partnerships for the SDGs.
During the session on Financing for Sustainable Development (FSD), the discussion focused on defining the G20 engagement on Integrated National Financing Frameworks (INFFs), Sustainability-related financial instruments and SDG-alignment of fiscal space. The OECD and UNDP presented the final version of their stock take reports, which provide valuable inputs for the DWG deliverables in these areas. G20 delegates welcomed the opportunity to further exchange views with a representative of the Italian Presidency from the recently created Sustainable Finance WG and reaffirm the continuous mutual support and collaboration between the DWG and the Finance Track during the Italian Presidency.
In the last session, G20 delegates discussed the main structure of the 2021 Rome Update, a key deliverable of the DWG, which serves as a roadmap to highlight G20 contributions to the 2030 Agenda during the Italian Presidency and take stock of the progress made on previous G20 Development Commitments.