The Italian G20 Presidency 2021

In December 2020 Italy took over the G20 Presidency for the first time. The world was still in the middle of the worst phase of the Covid-19 pandemic, which was taking a heavy toll on our societies. Over the following year, we worked together to tackle the health crisis and to lay the foundations for a fairer and more sustainable global recovery.
We took steps to overcome protectionism in health products, to secure more vaccines for the world’s poorest regions and to be better prepared for future epidemics. We enhanced financial assistance to more vulnerable states to help them respond to the economic fallout from the pandemic. We reformed the international tax system to ensure that companies globally pay their fair share. We organized the first G20 conference on women’s empowerment and we adopted a roadmap to reduce gender gaps in labour force participation by 25% by 2025.
We also stepped up the fight against climate change. For the first time, all G20 countries made a formal pledge to try to keep global warming within 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. They also accepted the scientific basis behind this goal and agreed to a number of short- and medium-term responses to achieve it. We secured new financial commitments to help low-income countries transition to a greener economy. Italy alone pledged seven billion euros. Italy’s Presidency of the G20 also coincided with the end of NATO’s mission in Afghanistan, where
we intervened promptly to provide aid and help refugees. We organized an extraordinary G20 meeting to coordinate support for the United Nations mission and secured financial assistance for the humanitarian emergency.