By Dr Venkatachalam Anbumozhi, Senior Research Fellow for Innovation: The global economic landscape has undergone a profound transformation since the 2008 global financial crisis exposed the limitations of the post-World War II economic architecture. Today’s interconnected challenges – ranging from climate-induced financial risks and debt distress to digital fragmentation and geopolitical tensions – require more adaptive and inclusive forms of global governance. In this context, the Group of Twenty (G20) has emerged as the most important forum for managing an increasingly complex ‘polycrisis.’

Critics often point to the G20’s lack of a permanent secretariat and legally binding enforcement powers. Yet the consecutive presidencies of Indonesia (2022), India (2023), Brazil (2024), and South Africa (2025) have fundamentally reshaped the forum’s strategic direction. By placing the priorities of the Global South at the centre of the agenda, this sequence of emerging economy leadership has demonstrated that the G20 is not merely a crisis-management platform, but an essential steering mechanism for a more inclusive, resilient, and multipolar global order.

The G20 as a Strategic Platform for Global North–South -South Co-operation

For much of its history – from the 2008 financial crisis through the COVID-19 pandemic – the G20 was often perceived as a forum where advanced economies largely shaped the agenda while developing economies reacted to it. However, the recent sequence of presidencies has altered this dynamic by using the G20 as a platform to bridge the priorities of developed and developing countries.

Indonesia (2022): Recover Together, Recover Stronger

Amid the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the geopolitical disruptions arising from the war in Ukraine, Indonesia successfully steered the G20 toward practical co-operation through initiatives such as the Pandemic Fund and the Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP). Indonesia demonstrated that the G20 could remain functional despite intensifying geopolitical fragmentation while advancing co-operation on global health architecture, energy transition, and digital transformation.

India (2023): One Earth, One Family, One Future

India’s presidency marked a milestone in global representation. By securing permanent membership for the African Union (AU), India addressed a longstanding imbalance in global governance and ensured that African voices gained formal representation at the world’s premier economic forum. India also promoted Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) as a scalable framework for financial inclusion, public service delivery, and digital governance across developing economies.

Brazil (2024): Building a Just World and a Sustainable Planet

Building on this momentum, Brazil shifted attention toward global governance reform and the fight against hunger and inequality. Through initiatives such as the Global Alliance against Hunger and Poverty, Brazil highlighted the link between social inclusion and macroeconomic stability, arguing that sustainable growth cannot be achieved without addressing structural inequalities.

South Africa (2025): Solidarity, Equality, and Sustainable Development

As the final presidency in this Global South leadership cycle, South Africa consolidated these priorities by focusing on reform of Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs), debt sustainability, and financing for development. South Africa reinforced the importance of addressing the interconnected challenges of inequality, poverty, and unemployment, ensuring that these issues remain central to global economic governance as the second G20 cycle begun under the United States presidency in 2026.

The Intellectual Engine: The Role of Think20 (T20)

The continuity and effectiveness of the G20 are sustained not only through the Sherpa and Finance Tracks, but also through its engagement groups, particularly Think20 (T20) and Business20 (B20), which function respectively as the forum’s ‘ideas bank’ and ‘action platform.’

Since Germany’s presidency in 2017, the T20 has evolved from a peripheral engagement mechanism into a sophisticated policy incubator working closely with B20 and other engagement groups, including Youth20 (Y20), Startup20, and Civil20 (C20). Through policy research and expert dialogue, the T20 has contributed analytical depth to discussions on global commons issues such as climate finance, debt sustainability, digital governance, and just energy transition.

For example, T20 task forces under the past four presidencies helped provide technical inputs to summit discussions on disaster resilience, debt sustainability, and the operationalisation of the Common Framework for green hydrogen. Across successive presidencies, T20 policy briefs have increasingly shifted the global discourse from traditional aid-based approaches toward partnership-based development models.

Recent T20 discussions have also focused on digital governance and the safety of digital networks, including policy proposals related to Internet of Things (IoT) governance, blockchain transparency, and digital public infrastructure. These efforts recognise that the digital economy, if left insufficiently governed, may become a new source of systemic vulnerability.

Why the G20 Must Continue

The G20 remains one of the few forums where the leaders of the world’s largest economies – representing approximately 85% of global GDP and 75% of global trade – meet regularly on relatively equal footing. Its informal and flexible structure is one of its greatest strengths, enabling pragmatic ‘minilateral’ co-operation that is often difficult to achieve within more rigid multilateral institutions.

The G20 also serves as an important pressure valve for geopolitical tensions. Even during periods of heightened strategic rivalry, particularly between major powers, the forum continues to provide a rare platform where technical co-operation on climate finance, health security, debt restructuring, and energy transition can continue despite broader political disagreements.

At a time global governance institutions face increasing fragmentation and declining trust, dismantling or weakening the G20 would create a major vacuum in international economic co-ordination.

Innovations Needed for Future Reform

To remain effective in an increasingly fragmented world, the G20 and its engagement groups must evolve beyond their current structures. Several institutional and leadership innovations should therefore be prioritised.

1. Establish a ‘Troika-Plus’ Institutional Mechanism

Although the G20 operates through a troika system – comprising the past, current and incoming presidencies – without a permanent bureaucracy, this arrangement can also create discontinuity and weaken institutional memory. A light-touch ‘Troika-Plus’ mechanism could strengthen co-ordination across presidencies by systematically tracking implementation of previous commitments, facilitating policy continuity, and supporting long-term agenda setting without creating an overly bureaucratic structure.

2. Formalise a Global South Co-ordination Mechanism

Building on the momentum generated by Indonesia, India, Brazil, and South Africa, the G20 should institutionalise a mechanism through which emerging and developing economies can co-ordinate policy priorities ahead of summit negotiations. Such a framework would help ensure that agenda-setting power is more structurally balanced and not solely dependent on rotating presidencies.

3. Develop a G20 Sustainable Green Credit Framework

The G20 should move beyond broad sustainability declarations by establishing a common framework for sustainable green credits and circular economy incentives. Working closely with T20 and B20 networks, the G20 could support transparent standards for carbon markets, nature-based solutions, and green investment mechanisms under the evolving post-2030 sustainable development agenda. Such a framework would help compensate developing countries for preserving global public goods while accelerating climate action.

4. Create a Global Resilience Financing Mechanism

The G20 could encourage member countries to explore options for pooling a small portion of sovereign wealth and development financing resources on voluntary basis into a Global Resilience Fund. Supported by knowledge platforms such as T20, B20, and the Global Solutions Initiative, this mechanism could provide rapid-response financing for supply chain disruptions, trade shocks, health emergencies, and climate-related crises. Such an approach would strengthen collective resilience against emerging systemic vulnerabilities.

The G20 could encourage member countries to explore options for pooling a small portion of sovereign wealth and development financing resources on a voluntary basis into a Global Resilience Fund. Supported by knowledge platforms such as the T20, B20, and the Global Solutions Initiative, this mechanism could provide rapid-response financing for supply chain disruptions, trade shocks, health emergencies, and climate-related crises. Such an approach would strengthen collective resilience against emerging systemic vulnerabilities.

Conclusion

The recent cycle of Global South presidencies has fundamentally reshaped the G20 by demonstrating that the forum can address global inequalities while maintaining economic stability and international co-operation. The leadership of Indonesia, India, Brazil, and South Africa has broadened the G20 agenda beyond financial crisis management toward more inclusive and sustainable global governance.

However, maintaining the G20’s relevance will require institutional adaptation, stronger policy continuity, and more innovative leadership structures. By integrating the intellectual contributions of engagement groups such as T20 with practical institutional reforms, the G20 can evolve from a reactive crisis-management platform into a proactive steering mechanism for global resilience and sustainable development.

At a time of new crises, including the current Middle East oil supply disruptions and their cascading impact on global economic growth, amid rising fragmentation and uncertainty, neither the world nor the current G20 Presidency, the United States, can afford to lose the hard-won gains achieved through the past G20 summits. Instead, greater efforts are needed to strengthen and modernise the forum to ensure more effective and inclusive global problem-solving in the decades ahead.

This opinion piece was written by Dr Venkatachalam Anbumozhi, Senior Research Fellow for Innovation, ERIA and has been published in The Jakarta Post.

Disclaimer: The views expressed are solely those of the author and should not, under any circumstances, be regarded as representing the official position of the Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia.