While the Met's cack-handed policing of the G20 protests earlier this month grabbed the headlines, less attention was trained on the concrete outcomes of the summit. In an article free to read online this week, Will Straw responds to Gerald Holtham's argument, in our April issue, about what the G20's key priorities should have been.
According to many press reports, and indeed Holtham's own criteria, the London summit was a success, writes Straw, but Holtham passed over two critical components on which the summit fared poorly: measures to address climate change and a clear statement concerning the G20's own future. The G20 should be using the global economic crisis to recast the world economy on a more stable and fair footing, but without addressing these key issues, it will not be able to do so, argues Staw.
"It is a travesty," he says, "that no new money was made available for grants and aid given the risk that 200m people will fall back into the $1 a day definition of poverty as a result of the economic crisis."
Weigh in with your thoughts here.
Where the G20 went wrong
April 28, 2009
Heavy-handed police: but should the G20 leaders have been bolder?
