The first G20 ministerial meeting under the Brazilian presidency begins today (21) with the countries' foreign ministers at Marina da Glória, in Rio de Janeiro. The meeting runs until Thursday (22) and marks the activities before the Summit that will bring together heads of state and government in November this year, also in Rio de Janeiro.
Among the names confirmed are US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who visited President Lula in Brasilia before heading to Rio de Janeiro, and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. In addition to foreign ministers and representatives of the 19 countries that make up the G20 plus the African Union and the European Union, authorities from the countries invited by the Brazilian presidency and representatives of the twelve international organizations invited will also attend the event.
About 350 media professionals from all over the world have been accredited to cover the meeting. TV channels, radio stations, news websites, podcasts and social media platforms from countries such as Russia, Japan, , Italy, Portugal, Spain, China, England, the United States and the United Arab Emirates will be at the event.
On the first day, Wednesday (21), the meeting will take place between 2 pm and 6:30 pm. On Thursday (22), the debates will take place between 8 am and 1 pm. The meetings will be held behind closed doors, but the foreign minister of each country decides whether to give interviews to the press during the event.
“A dinner will be offered to the foreign affairs ministers at the end of the first day of the event and bilateral or multilateral meetings between countries will happen throughout the event, in a place reserved at Marina da Glória for this purpose, both to build consensus on themes pertinent to the G20 and to sign agreements in different sectors,” reads the official website.
The website adds that “On Friday (23), after completing the foreign affairs ministers' meeting, the event "G20 Countries and Biofuels Diplomacy", organized by Columbia University in partnership with the Climate Hub, Columbia Global Center Rio and Rio de Janeiro City Hall.”
Among those confirmed are the ambassadors of Indonesia and India, the countries that held the last two presidencies of the G20, the Secretary of Climate, Energy and Environment of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador André Corrêa do Lago, sherpas from G20 countries and experts on the subject. The seminar seeks to reflect on how the G20 countries can collaborate to accelerate the energy transition.
