November was an important month in international relations. In the middle of the annual United Nation’s Climate Change Conference (COP27), another important global meeting, the G20 Summit, was hosted in Bali, Indonesia, 15-16 November. The G20 Summit is the meeting of 19 nations and the European Union and, collectively, the group is responsible for roughly 85% of global GDP, 75% of global trade, and approximately two-thirds of the world’s population.
“The priorities, more or less, go in the same direction," said Matthias Thorns, deputy secretary general of the International Organisation of Employers (IOE). “G20 is about making sure you have dynamic, inclusive labor markets, looking after entrepreneurship, and looking at skill building systems which produce skills which are in line with labor market needs."
A number of topics that came up during this year’s G20 Summit, including improving access to digital technology, women’s empowerment in the labor market, and climate change, are pertinent to the global mobility industry and could affect industry standards in the coming years.
Digital Mobility Post-COVID-19
This year, leaders convened under the theme of “Recover Together, Recover Stronger." Reeling from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the global supply chain, leaders acknowledged the need for development via improving digital technology access worldwide. On 16 November, the United States released its G20 Leaders Declaration with conclusions from the G20 Summit. “We remain committed to further enable data free flow with trust and promote cross-border data flows," the declaration said. “We will advance a more inclusive, human-centric, empowering, and sustainable digital transformation."
The summit also focused on the effect of digitalization on the international labor markets. In a study of 20 countries, Hiring Lab found that remote work opportunities have tripled since the beginning of the pandemic, increasing from 2% to 7.5% in September 2021. In a press release from the UN Secretary General António Guterres, he lauded efforts to help developed countries via increased digital technology. “Digital technology can give an unprecedented boost to sustainable development, particularly for the poorest countries."
Leaders also looked at securing worker rights, promoting digital literacy and access in less developed countries, and the protection of freedom of online expression with a focus on the responsibility of governments, tech companies, and social media platforms to prevent the spread of misinformation
Empowering Women in the Workplace
The summit recognized the COVID-19 pandemic’s negative effect on the rights of women worldwide. Gender-based violence was highlighted during the talks, and there are roadmaps set in place to ensure G20 members can bring up the number of women in the workforce after numbers stagnated during the pandemic.
The IOE, in collaboration with Deloitte, released an expansive report looking at increasing women’s participation in labor markets, improving women’s earning and market security, and achieving better working conditions for women around the world with data collected from 2016 - 2021. While women are returning to the workforce in a post-COVID-19 world, many countries, including the U.S., Brazil, and India, are lagging behind with numbers reflecting data collected before the pandemic. The report gives suggestions for G20 country governments such as creating comprehensive measures, including digital education and entrepreneurial opportunities, and committing to and strengthening national roadmaps that work on improving women empowerment.
Affirming the Fight Against Climate Change and the Energy Crisis
The world leaders present at the G20 Summit affirmed their commitment to the Paris Agreement, which seeks to keep the Earth’s temperature from raising more than 1.5 degrees Celsius. National leaders also affirmed to revisit their 2030 targets and work on national implementation plans and roadmaps to help countries reach net-zero emissions by 2050.
Energy talks came up as leaders condemned the war in the Ukraine waged by Russia. President Vladimir Putin remained in Moscow during the G20 Summit; Russia was represented by Sergey Lavrov, the country’s foreign minister. In the declaration released after the end of the summit, delegates declared the dire need to “rapidly transform and diversify energy systems" in order to establish long-term global energy security and stressed “the importance of ensuring that global energy demand is matched by affordable energy supplies." While countries all over the globe look to renewable sources to fuel their country’s energy demands as quickly as possible, the Financial Times reported that EU countries have cut gas demand by 24% below the five-year average in order to avoid reliance on Russian natural gas imports.
Looking to an Indian Presidency
India has succeeded Indonesia as the new president of G20 and will be hosting next year’s summit in New Delhi. The G20 president sets the agenda for the subsequent summits, and with India as president, topics related to global mobility will be prescient. Currently, the Indian government has indicated that digitization of the global economy and sustainable growth will continue to lead the agenda next year.
Recently, India became the fifth largest economy in the world, taking over this position from the U.K. In addition to a growing economy, India’s talent makes a large presence worldwide. Every year, roughly a quarter million Indians leave home to study abroad, and according to a report done by The Gulf Today, one-third of engineers based in Silicon Valley are Indian nationals and 30% of Fortune 500 companies have Indian nationals in CEO roles. While the government is still in the early stages of agenda planning, asking Indian citizens to contribute their ideas, the movement and demand for Indian talent across the globe could set the stage for interesting developments around a more digital economy and both global talent and immigration standards.