Harvard Model Congress Boston 2020

GUIDE TO THE G20 Edited by Ravi Shah and Harnek Gulati

INTRODUCTION

Welcome to the Group of Twenty! The G20 is a forum for the world’s nineteen largest economies—Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States, plus the European Union. The group allows for dialogue among the world’s most advanced and emerging economies. The group’s main tasks consist of addressing global economic and financial issues—at least one delegate at the conference will represent each country. You, the delegates at HMC 2019, will play the roles of these officials, representing their respective governments or institutions during the summit. At this time of global financial crisis and economic slowdown, the G20 has been instrumental to the stabilization of the international financial system and the coordination of macroeconomic policies among the most important economic players in the international arena. During our conference, you will represent the opinions of their governments on political and environmental matters, bringing each government’s perspective regarding the restoration of political stability and environmental sustainability to the table. You are expected to challenge each other on political matters in order to defend the interests of your respective countries, all while keeping global cooperation and the elaboration of a common strategy as your ultimate goals.

HISTORY OF THE G20

The G20 was founded in 1999 as a response to the financial crises of the late 1990s. It replaced the short-lived G33 and G22. Its creation was inspired by a growing recognition that emerging economies were not represented in global economic discussions and decisions, and that non-G7 markets were equally affected by global financial crises and would provide an important perspective in the global economic dialogue. The G20 has thus institutionalized exchange among advanced and emerging economies. Since 1999, the group’s focus has broadened significantly. Not only does the group deal with financial crises, it also works towards reaching agreements on policies for growth, reducing abuses of the financial system, and combating the financing of

HARVARD MODEL CONGRESS international terrorism. For example, in 2004, the G20 countries committed themselves to higher standards of transparency and exchange of information on tax matters. In 2006, discussions focused on domestic reforms as a means of achieving sustainable growth as well as reforms in the Bretton Woods Institutions, the World Bank, and the IMF. G20 summits occurred in 2008 to tackle the global financial crisis of 2007 and to increase inclusion of emerging countries in global economic governance and discussion. The forums have since been held semi-annually with the urgent goals of governing economic decisions, such as fiscal expansion and the increase of investment, and promoting sustainable economic growth. Beginning in 2011, meetings of the G20 have been held on an annual basis.

THE G20 AT HMC BOSTON

Committee Overview At HMC, at least one delegate, acting as the head of state or another significant policymaker, will represent each country. Every delegate is expected to have researched in great depth the positions of his or her country or organization before the conference, and is expected to have completed each of the assigned preparation exercises. All agreements in the G20 must be reached by consensus. In other words, all delegates must agree on a proposal in order for it to be adopted. The G20 will issue a communiqué at the close of the conference that must then be ratified by the heads of state of each country. So, your negotiations will aim at constructing a cohesive memorandum that will address the topics under consideration. You will receive these economic topic briefings as an update to this guide in the coming weeks. At HMC Boston, the G20 will be run using modified parliamentary procedure. Since the G20 passes non-binding proposals by consensus, discussion avoids the politicized debate that often characterizes congressional committee sessions. You must be mindful during the conference of how to find common ground with other representatives so that you may reach a consensus on the issues covered. The participation of all members is vital to the success of this committee; all delegates bear the responsibility of representing their nations while also crafting a suitable communiqué, an official report to the public on the commitments made during the summit that will receive unanimous support. As a direct representative of your nation’s head of state, you are responsible for helping to craft a coherent and consistent message for your nation that balances individual national interests with the needs of your global peers. You are encouraged to consult and work with individual peers at the conference in order to development agreements and coalitions based on shared interests and motivations. In addition to your ongoing debate within the committee, members of the G20 may also be called upon during the conference to perform other duties of the offices that they hold. These may include providing testimony or engaging in diplomatic negotiations. Essentially, a member of the G20 should be prepared to speak on any major matter concerning his or her nation, for s/he may be called upon for expertise and foreign perspective to inform legislative action.

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Conference Timeline Before the Conference In order to participate in the G20, prospective delegates must first read the committee’s briefings and their updates, which contain all the issues to be discussed during the conference. Afterwards, you must educate yourself on the country and role you represent. Take the time to thoroughly research the economic history and positions held by your nation and bring that expertise to bear during debate at the conference.

At the Conference Every committee session will follow these steps:

Call to Order and Roll Call

At the beginning of the session, the G20 members will introduce themselves (name, position, political party if possible, years in power, education, other relevant information) and will introduce their country, before speaking about their achievements as the leaders of their country, in particular their countries’ achievements in the context of the issues that we will be discussing. The delegates will succinctly state the issues they consider to be the most critical in the context of the G20 conference.

Presentations by State Actors

After discussion begins on a particular issue, each delegate will make a 2-minute presentation to the committee regarding his or her position on the relevant issue. Given the number of states represented in the G20, this section will have to be done as succinctly and efficiently as possible, and all delegates are expected to take notes about the other delegates’ plans and proposals so they will be prepared for the subsequent debate.

Debate on Issues

The ensuing debate will be governed by HMC parliamentary procedure. Please refer to the rules of parliamentary procedure to gain an understanding of the fundamentals of the debate.

Consideration of Policy Proposal

As all of the G20 committee sessions are geared towards the drafting of final policy proposals, upon which all the parties have reached a consensus, the proposals will be drafted piece by piece throughout the committee sessions. It is advised that the delegates split into groups with similar and/or conflicting interests in order to resolve differences, create dialogue, and work the details out in the most efficient manner. There will be plenty of time afforded to such caucuses.

Vote on Policy Proposal

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All the members have to strive to reach a consensus and an agreement on a policy proposal. Voting will take place to determine whether or not a consensus has been reached among all parties. A policy proposal, or communiqué, will pass once voting shows that ALL parties have reached a consensus. Thus, for a proposal to pass, it requires 100% approval by all state actors and the endorsement of the international institutions.

Other Interactions

From time to time, members of the G20 may be called upon to perform other tasks in their roles as representative heads of state. Such tasks may include providing testimony in domestic committees on relevant issues, judging requests from the US for military support, or entering into treaties and alliances. Likewise, the G20 as a whole may be required to address critical and time- sensitive issues requiring international action. You should be prepared for discussion on general global security concerns but only for the purposes of consultation with other committees.

PREPARING FOR THE G20 SUMMIT

Step One: Understanding the Issue at Stake A thorough review of the briefings provided will be your first step in preparing for the conference. We understand that many of the issues discussed can be quite complex, but we will make every effort to make them comprehensible. To make your task easier, try to research any term in the briefing that you do not understand. Once you have a grasp on all the concepts and terminology, try to understand the issue as a whole. Furthermore, the official G20 website, http://www.g20.org, has available past communiqués and other resources that delineate its work.

Step Two: Researching Your Assigned Role Who are the most important decision makers in the country? As you are representing a particular head of state, research his or her particular views, past speeches in G20 conferences, and his or her party and its perspectives on the major issues. Does the executive have complete control of the government, or is the leader facing an unsympathetic parliament? All of these factors may influence the way in which this leader makes policy. In order to assist your research, read any comments or speeches that have been made by relevant government officials, and try to read any statements made by these leaders in the past G20 conferences. Research will allow you to gain a broad view of you country’s perspectives and enable you to better represent your country at the conference. If you are representing an international organization, read its website in depth and try to understand how it is confronting the financial crisis and other major issues. What actions does your international organization propose in order to address these issues?

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Step Three: Preparing your Preliminary Policy Proposal Look at each of the assigned topics in light of these guiding questions and write a preliminary policy proposal that shows how the leader you are representing would address each of these issues. You should write a one-page, double-spaced paper for each issue that we will address at the conference.

CONCLUSION

You now belong to the circle of the world’s most powerful and important economic decision makers, and the decisions you make will have an impact not just on your particular country, but on the world as a whole (likely for many years to come). In order to make responsible and effective policy, you must come to the conference prepared. Make sure to thoroughly research the topics under debate and your particular perspectives, as any argument you make will be crucial in shaping the world economy. You are in a position to alter the direction of global economy policy, so treat the issues with great responsibility and respect. Now, it is time to read the briefings, delve deep into your research, and draft policy proposals. We look forward to meeting you at Harvard Model Congress 2019!

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