Rio realities

The broad-brush declaration lacks s Decif Ics

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The G20 Rio de Janeiro Declaration, which leaders endorsed on Tuesday, has addressed most of the key issues that roil the world - war, climate change, poverty and hunger, equality, and global governance. In doing so, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, better known as Lula, President of host nation Brazil, could claim success in fulfilling his agenda despite differences among leaders on the nuances ofthe draft and dissenting opinions from Argentina. The language of the declaration, therefore, reflects the degree of compromise within the GZO on a number of issues. But the upshot is a text that is generic in ambit and short on specifics. Though the final agreement spared Lula the ignominy of failing to negotiate a final declaration, the Rio declaration missed the opportunity to move the agenda forward meaningfully ahead of Donald Trump's impending second presidency of the United States. Lula scored two notable successes. One was the mention of the proposal to tax global billionaires by 2 per cent; negotiations on this issue had been fraught, with Argentina reportedl