G20 Taskforce Recommendations

Why is the World Economic Forum involved in the G20 process? Robert Greenhill: World Economic Forum has been involved in the G20 for the last two years because we think it's one of the most important gatherings at a global level. It involves over 90 percent of the global economies when you have the 20 countries together, but it has to be successful, it has to involve more than just the governments themselves. It has to involve all civil society to really understand the key issues and identify the ways to resolve them. After some involvement in Seoul, we've been intensely involved in the G20 process this year following that meeting between President Sarkozy and Klaus Schwab in Davos. We've had seven taskforces looking at a number of critical issues. What were the taskforces' recommendations? Robert Greenhill: Through the process we came up with seven sets of recommendations, but there are three I'd really like to focus on. First the issue of food security, second, the really important question of anticorruption and transparency, and thirdly, green growth, creating jobs that are not only good for employment but also good for sustainability going forward. Under the area of food security, the recommendation is focused on improving the investment by 50 percent by 2015 involving private funds and public funds working effectively together. They focus on improving the markets for food distribution at a global level. They also focus on how we can use innovation and new technologies to improve food productivity. And, also, the importance of ensuring that environmental sustainability and job creation is built into food security measures right from the beginning. The recommendations in the area of anticorruption and transparency focused, first of all, on ensuring that the agreements of Seoul are actually translated into laws against corruption and they're being implemented in the courts that what we see on paper is actually reflected in the courts. Secondly, that the private sector and governments work together in different sectors to actually drive out areas of corruption. Thirdly, that for those companies who played by the rule there's a way to actually recognize their importance so while we should maybe have blacklist for companies who don't behave appropriately, we should maybe have a white list for companies who are really setting a standard of integrity and anticorruption. And then, finally, there should be a way for CEOs who actually have identified corrupt practices, perhaps historically, to be able to come forward, identify them, acknowledge them, and resolve them in an effective fashion. We think this requires an unparalleled level of private-public cooperation to actually move anticorruption and transparency to the next level. On the key area of green growth, our recommendations involve having the right incentives in place so that the innovation and power to the private sector can be used to create green jobs, to ensure that it remains a standing item for G20 in Mexico and beyond given the critical nature of this, and, also, that there be a private-public partnership that is focused on identifying really good examples of green growth, sustainable development that can actually be celebrated and shared most effectively, so it can actually accelerate progress in this area.