The heads of the G20 meeting in Brazil released a leaders’ declaration on Monday that underscored the many problems facing the global community even as it urged action on armed conflicts, climate change and other major issues.
Despite the concerns, the 22-page, 85-point document also struck an optimistic tone on the prospect for a reasonable economic outcome in the near term.
“We live in times of major geopolitical, socioeconomic and climate and environmental challenges and crises [that] require urgent action,” the leaders said a day before the two-day summit’s formal conclusion.
“We observe good prospects of a soft landing of the global economy, although multiple challenges remain and some downside risks have increased amid elevated uncertainty.”
One of the most contentious issues, both at the G20 and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation a few days earlier in Peru that many leaders also attended, was how to frame the two wars currently under way in Ukraine and in the Middle East.