Brazil does not invite OECD to the G20 Summit in Rio

Brazil did not invite the secretary general of the (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) to the G20 Summit in Rio on November 18 and 19, 2024. This is the first time that the OECD has been ignored at the event since the first G20 Summit in 2008. The OECD asked that Cormann be invited. The Brazilian government ignored the request.

The OECD, based in Paris, was once the club of the richest economies. Today it includes many developing countries. Latin America includes Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica and Mexico.

The organization was created in 1948 to promote the reconstruction of Europe after the Second World War (1939-1945). European countries still dominate. They didn’t like the Brazilian gesture. They considered it inelegant.

Meeting of the OECD Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday (6.Nov.2024) discussed the G20 Summit, among other topics. The participants were informed by the general secretariat that there was a diplomatic effort to invite Cormann to the meeting in Rio. He also said that this was not met by the Brazilian government.

Participants were also informed that the Russian government advocates the elimination of any reference to the OECD in G20 documents produced during the group’s Brazilian presidency in 2024. It is unclear whether this will be accepted.

From December 1, 2024, the G20 presidency will be held by South Africa. The country has already announced that the OECD will be invited to all meetings. The organization will also be at the Summit, in Johannesburg, in November 2025.

HADDAD INVITED OECD TO MEETINGS

Cormann, the secretary-general, attended the G20 finance ministers meeting in February in São Paulo. Minister Fernando Haddad (Finance) was the host. In June, Cormann attended a G20 meeting at Itamaraty, the MRE (Ministry of Foreign Affairs), in Brasília.

Brazil presides over the G20 from the end of 2023 until the Rio Summit. The OECD’s Brazilian presidency was known. But there was expectation in the OECD of an invitation for Cormann to go to the Summit.

The MRE said the invitation to the OECD for G20 events in 2024 was limited to discussions on finance at the G20.

When asked whether it was taken into account that the OECD secretary general participated in other summits, the MRE did not respond. The text will be updated if a statement is sent to this digital newspaper.

OECD SAYS IT HAS HELPED BRAZIL IN THE G20

The OECD said in a note that “has been supporting and contributing to the G20 for a long time, including during Brazil’s presidency in 2024”. Read it in English (PDF – 36 KB). Read the Portuguese translation below.

He also said he had provided information to the Global Alliance against Hunger and Poverty, which the president (PT) in July. The OECD joined the alliance.

Asked about the lack of an invitation to Cormann, the OECD responded that the question should be directed to the Brazilian government.

Brazil’s entry process into the OECD began in 2022, under the (PL) government. in the Lula government. There were economists to this change. Indonesia only started the accession process in February 2024. It has already made a lot of progress. It must enter the OECD before Brazil.

ANALYSIS

The fact that the OECD Secretary General was not invited to the G20 Summit shows that part of Brazilian diplomacy is at least 60 years behind. It behaves as if the Non-Aligned Movement of 1955 still existed. It was a group of countries that did not associate with either the USA or the Soviet Union. He also rejected proximity to European countries. This has been replaced by the concept of the Global South.

Europeans the Global South is a danger because countries that join risk becoming satellites of China.

Donald Trump’s election as US president on Tuesday (Nov 5) made the behavior of part of Brazilian diplomacy even more dangerous.

The Brazilian government will have difficulty relating to the Trump government. If it keeps its distance from the Europeans, who dominate the OECD, it will become even more dependent on China.

OECD NOTE

Here is the full OECD note on November 6, 2024:

“The OECD has been supporting and contributing to the G20 for a long time, including during Brazil’s presidency in 2024.

“This year, in support of the priorities and main objectives of the Brazilian Presidency, the OECD:

• Supported G20 efforts to end poverty and hunger and catalyze a strong international social agenda, including providing data and analysis to support the establishment of the Brazilian Global Alliance against Hunger and Poverty, which the OECD joined as a founding member; providing information – at the request of the Brazilian Presidency – to the G20 discussions on taxes and inequalities; contributing with evidence on multidimensional and intersectoral inequalities, their root causes and their links with informality and the lack of social protection, which will be presented at the G20 Social Summit; delivering a report on how to measure financial well-being; and informing G20 efforts to strengthen teacher training.
• Advances global efforts to create a fairer and more inclusive international tax system through the two-pillar solution to address fiscal challenges arising from the digitalization of the economy within the framework of the OECD-G20 inclusive framework on BEPS.
• Supported the main Brazilian Presidency Task Force on Global Mobilization Against Climate Change to drive collective climate action by contributing OECD analysis and data on climate finance and climate-resilient infrastructure, as well as the work of the OECD Inclusive Forum on Carbon Mitigation Approaches (IFCMA) to improve coordination of global mitigation efforts .
• Continued to promote an inclusive digital futurehelping to implement the G20 General Principles on Digital Identity Governance.
• Informed and contributed to G20 political discussions on sustainable development and investment, the assessment and promotion of capital flow resilience in EMDEs, women’s participation in international trade, trilateral cooperation and the fight against corruption.

“Questions regarding participation in specific G20 events, including the Leaders’ Summit, should be directed to Brazil as the 2024 Presidency.”