T20 as a G20 Engagement Group

The G20 was organized in response to the Asian financial crisis in the late 1990s as a governance forum to address challenges to global financial stability. After the 2008 financial crisis in the United States, the G20 evolved from a meeting of finance ministers and central bank governors into a summit of heads of state and government. Its agenda expanded to incorporate emerging issues that require collective action and coordination at the global level. The recommendations and consensuses achieved in the G20 process influence global governance, making it an important space for debate and decision making, capable of setting priorities, formulating guidelines for the international agenda, and pressing for progress on specific issues.

The group is organized into two parallel and interconnected tracks: 

• the Sherpa Track, led by foreign ministries with the involvement of sectoral ministries; and 
• the Finance Track, led by finance ministries (the Ministry of Finance, in Brazil’s case) and central bank presidents. 

Each track has thematic working groups and task forces. The G20 operates under a system of troikas and rotating presidencies among member countries. The troika is composed of the previous, current, and next chairs. Its purpose is to ensure smoother continuity of work and to facilitate the sharing of experiences. The presidency’s mandate runs from December 1 of one year to November 30 of the next. 

To establish the presidency, G20 member countries are divided into five groups; each group takes turns chairing the forum. However, there is no sequential pattern among the groups. In 2023, the presidency was held by Group 2 — hosted by India. In 2025, the group will again host the summit, this time in South Africa. Brazil chaired the G20 in 2008 and 2024. The exception is the European Union, which, although the “twentieth member,” does not hold the rotating presidency. A similar criterion is expected to apply to the African Union, which joined the group in 2023. After an event is hosted by a given group, the presidency rotates to another, which then decides the chair. 

The country assuming the G20 presidency is responsible for: 

• establishing a management secretariat, 
• defining priority themes for the Sherpa and Finance tracks, and 
• organizing technical meetings, ministerial conferences, and the G20 Summit — the meeting of heads of state. 

Groups for the G20 Rotating Presidency 

• Group One (2001, 2006, etc.): Australia, Canada, Saudi Arabia, United States 
• Group Two (2002, 2007, etc.): India, Russia, South Africa, Turkey 
• Group Three (2003, 2008, etc.): Argentina, Brazil, Mexico 
• Group Four (2004, 2009, etc.): France, Germany, Italy, United Kingdom 
• Group Five (2005, 2010, etc.): China, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea 

Source: Annex E, The group of twenty: a history. Disponível em: <<https://g20.utoronto.ca/docs/g20history.pdf>>

Official G20 Engagement Groups 

The G20 Engagement Groups are composed of non-governmental participants from member countries who prepare recommendations for G20 leaders and contribute to policymaking. These groups provide space for the views of business organizations (B20), labor unions (L20), national science academies (S20), women's social movements (W20), youth (Y20), civil society (C20), as well as groups formed around state entities such as mayors (Urban20 – U20), parliamentarians (P20), Supreme Audit Institutions (SAI20), supreme and constitutional courts (J20), Oceans (O20), Startup20, and think tanks (T20). 

Since 2008, under Brazil’s leadership, the official Engagement Groups have been recognized as legitimate forums for discussions feeding into the G20 political process. 

In 2024, under Brazil’s rotating presidency, an unprecedented initiative created the G20 Social, which strengthened the work of the Engagement Groups and opened space for civil society worldwide to contribute with content and substantive proposals that could feed into the G20 decision-making process. The G20 Social encompasses the activities of 13 Engagement Groups; initiatives and events coordinated between the political and financial tracks and non-governmental actors; and expressions of civil societies across G20 countries. In November 2024, on the eve of the Leaders’ Summit, the G20 Social Summit was held in Rio de Janeiro. 

Engagement Groups generally face common challenges to their effectiveness, such as financial constraints, underrepresentation, and institutional shortcomings regarding transparency and the need for more consistent mechanisms for interaction between governments and social actors (Loureiro, 2024). 

Think20 or T20

Launched in 2012 during Mexico’s presidency, the Think20 or T20 brings together think tanks and research institutes from the G20 and countries invited by the rotating presidency. It differs from other Engagement Groups by not defending a single thematic agenda. Its goal is to produce, debate, consolidate, and present ideas derived from evidence-based research on current and emerging issues. 

Over the past 11 years, the T20 has adopted different formats, with a growing number of participants. It operates under rotating leadership of national think tanks from the G20 presidency and includes thematic Task Forces. In a collaborative effort, think tanks and research institutes are invited to contribute by participating in Task Forces, conferences, meetings, side events, and by preparing policy briefs. 

Three major events are organized each year: the Inception Conference, the Midterm Conference, and the T20 Summit, along with additional side events. The work is directed toward producing the Communiqué, generally published at the end of the cycle.

T20 Brazil

FUNAG, Ipea, and CEBRI formed the T20 Brazil Organizing Committee in 2024. 

The guiding document for the Organizing Committee was the concept note, which established inclusion, representativeness, and effectiveness as core principles. To increase the G20’s impact, Brazil sought greater engagement and strengthened collaborative networks, addressing the historical underrepresentation of Latin American think tanks. Gender and race were treated as cross-cutting criteria, including in the evaluation of policy briefs. All selected papers included at least one woman as co-author, and authors were required to belong to different institutions. The concept note was presented at the Inception Conference in March 2024. 

The thematic Task Forces selected policy briefs and organized structured discussions that informed the drafting of the final documents aimed at influencing the G20’s guidelines and recommendations. 

T20 Brazil innovated by delivering the Communiqué to the Sherpa and Finance Track coordinators during the Midterm Conference in July 2024. The document consolidated recommendations from the six Task Forces. This unprecedented step allowed T20 Brazil members to move from proposing policies to discussing means of implementation. The results were presented at the T20 Summit in November 2024. 

The six Task Forces (TFs) of T20 Brazil approved 375 policy briefs, with 70 Brazilian institutions participating in the process. 

T20 Brazil 2024 Task Forces 

• TF01 – Combating inequality, hunger, and poverty 
• TF02 – Sustainable climate action and a just and inclusive energy transition 
• TF03 – Reform of the international financial architecture 
• TF04 – Trade and investment for sustainable and inclusive development 
• TF05 – Inclusive digital transformation 
• TF06 – Strengthening multilateralism and global governance

T20 Brasil.org Available at: <<https://www.t20brasil.org/en/about>>