A global summit brings together leaders of the world’s most important international organizations and businesses to discuss issues facing the entire planet. These include global health, economic growth, climate change, sustainable development and innovation. A summit can be held in person, or virtually, and it usually has a specific theme.
Climate change, poverty, displacement, and war are the most pressing global challenges of our time. Meanwhile, emerging technologies have few guardrails and are transforming our lives in ways we cannot anticipate. This is a moment when global cooperation and solidarity are needed more than ever before.
In the past year, activists mobilized across the globe to demand bold action from their leaders. They rallied in support of a clean energy future and climate justice. Leaders affirmed their commitment to the Paris Agreement, and committed to ambitious new national actions, including doubling their renewable energy capacity, restoring land and sea stewardship, and investing in innovation districts.
This year’s high-level weeks will also offer key opportunities for leaders to recommit to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and renew their partnerships and financial investments in those efforts. As the SDGs approach their 2030 deadline, they remain woefully off-track in many countries, with rising inequality and unaffordable medical care at the top of the agenda. In the G20, meanwhile, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa’s priorities are expected to build on previous meetings by prioritizing inclusive economies, climate change-related disaster resilience, debt relief for developing countries, and mobilizing finance for a transition to a greener economy.