Joint Communiqué of the 3rd Meeting of the G20 Speakers
Riyadh, February 25-26, 2012
Upon the invitation of the Speaker of Majlis Ash' Shura of Saudi Arabia, and under the patronage of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz, speakers of the parliaments of the Member States of the G20 held their third consultation meeting in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia during the period 2-4/4/1433 corresponding to 24-26/2/2012, Organized by the Shura Council, under the theme "sustainable economic growth for a secure world".
The conference was attended by the following G 20 Parliaments/ Assemblies: Argentina, Brasil, Canada, China, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and the European Parliament.
During the meeting, the following issues were discussed: Global dialogue of cultures, energy for sustainable development, and the sovereign debt crisis and its effects on the world economy. The meeting concluded with the following:
Dialogue among peoples and cultures is essential for consolidating international peace, security and development. The international community must develop a climate conducive to dialogue, tolerance and the development of human rights culture instead of intolerance, extremism, discrimination and prejudices. This includes viewing differences as an advantage to humanity and adopting inter-faith dialogue as a means to eradicate misunderstanding, conflict, animosity and hatred, and to focus on areas of cooperation among peoples, parliaments and states in the service of common human and universal values which foster positive understanding, love and peace among all mankind.
In this context, institutional frameworks that promote international dialogue have a particularly important role to play. This includes: the initiative of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz to strengthen the concept of dialogue between the followers of faiths and cultures as a basis for peaceful coexistence at the international level which culminated in the establishment of a devoted center for interfaith dialogue in Vienna, cosponsored by Austria, Saudi Arabia and Spain; the Alliance of Civilizations, co-sponsored by Turkey and Spain, and operating under the aegis of the United Nations; the annual day of peace at Assisi (Italy) that in 2011 was attended by all the world's religious leaders; as well as the establishment of the World Interfaith Harmony Week by the United Nations. The strong global interest in such initiatives and others is one demonstration of the fact that the international community prefers cooperation to confrontation.
In a globalized world, parliaments, governments, international institutions, the media and civil society can all make important contributions to support dialogues among peoples and cultures. This requires facilitating the use of technical means and modern communications to foster the effective dialogue between followers of different religions, civilizations and cultures. Parliaments of the G 20, through their role as a direct bridge to the people, should be more directly involved in the process of promoting interfaith dialogue as well as global peace and security.
Terrorism is a direct violation of the fundamental right to life of each human being, and poses a threat to international security and stability. It is condemned in all its manifestations, irrespective of its motivations and should not be associated with any religion, culture or ethnic group. Therefore, enhanced international cooperation is necessary in combating it.
Racism, discrimination and xenophobia undermine human dignity and threaten the harmonious fabrics of our societies. It is incumbent upon us to actively address these negative trends and promote mutual respect, global cultural dialogue and understanding.
The Middle East region is known as a cradle of civilizations and religions and an important source of energy supply to the world. Achieving a just, viable and comprehensive peace in the Middle East and working towards a region free of nuclear arms are essential for global peace, stability and prosperity. In this regard, dialogue within each country and institutional reforms are essential in fulfilling the aspirations of the peoples of the region. In addition, as G-20 parliamentarians, we recognize the importance of respecting international law and trust, in order to promote peace and security in the world.
The interdependence between energy and global economic growth makes demand for and supply of energy sources dependent on the growth and stability of the world economy, and vice versa. Therefore, it is essential to facilitate the mechanisms of dialogue between energy producers and consumers to contribute to the growth and stability of the global economy and energy markets.
Achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) requires devising ways and means for universal access to energy, while providing environmentally friendly energy sources and green technologies for sustainable development. In this regard, the initiative of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz to increase development assistance from national, regional and international institutions and channel such assistance towards addressing energy poverty contributes to the achievement of one of the main Millennium Development Goals. In this context, the United Nations proclamation of the year 2012 as the "International Year of Energy for All", must be supported.
It is important to channel resources and efforts to develop appropriate technologies in order to address global environmental issues, including climate change. Such efforts complement the national and global programs and policies to achieve an international agreement within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) based on the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities.
Repercussions of the sovereign debt crisis of some countries may extend, owing to the interdependence of markets, beyond those countries and affect financial markets, world trade and global economic growth. Therefore, when dealing with sovereign debt crisis, self-reliance efforts by each country for fiscal consolidation are imperative and concerted efforts to address the crisis are also needed. This should be associated with greater priority given to stimulate recovery in production and employment in the short term, and to begin the necessary structural reforms to achieve strong, sustained and balanced growth in the medium and long terms. In this context, parliaments have an important role to play.
International supervisory frameworks need to be strengthened to oversee the operations of international financial institutions. Of note also is the need to create an effective global early warning mechanism to deal with financial risk.
There is a need for sustainable fiscal policies in industrialized and emerging economies, depending on country specific circumstances. This includes protecting the most vulnerable groups in society through targeted support measures for inclusive growth to ensure social cohesion.
The participants extended their thanks to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz and Majlis Ash' Shura, and the people of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for hosting the third consultative meeting, and welcomed the invitation of Mexico to host the fourth consultative meeting of the Group of Twenty, subject to confirmation by the incoming Mexican parliament.
