Varansi Development Ministerial: Outcome Document and Chair's Summary

All G20 Development Ministers agreed to paragraphs 1 to 9 and paragraphs 12 to 14

We, the G20 Ministers responsible for Development, met in Varanasi on 12 June 2023, under India's G20 Presidency's theme, "One Earth, One Family, One Future."

2. We meet at a time of unparalleled multidimensional crises and challenges, that are impacting people, planet, prosperity, peace and partnership and have reversed years of progress on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). We strongly reaffirm our commitment to the full and effective implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the achievement of its SDGs, while leaving no one behind. We commit to put sustainable development at the centre of the international cooperation agenda.

3. Reiterating the universality, indivisibility, and integrated nature of the 2030 Agenda and its comprehensive, far-reaching, and transformative set of SDGs and targets, we commit to advance existing and new G20 collective actions that will contribute to bring on track and accelerate progress towards timely, full and effective implementation of the 2030 Agenda and achievement of its SDGs and enable the provision of global public goods; to work together to end poverty and inequality, in all its forms and dimensions and including through social protection, and for resilient economy and strong, sustainable, balanced, and inclusive growth; and to support our collective future, by, fostering green and blue economy/ocean-based economy, halting and reversing biodiversity loss, and sustainably managing natural resources, transforming agriculture and food systems to make them sustainable and resilient, improving access to nutritious food and healthy diets, promoting gender equality, ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education and promoting learning opportunities for all, creating decent and quality jobs, promoting inclusive and sustainable industrialisation and fostering innovation, strengthening and making health systems more resilient, and implementing sustainable, inclusive and just transitions globally while leaving no one behind. We also call for ambitious, concrete, and collective G20 actions to create opportunities for all and address structural vulnerabilities and imbalances, especially those faced by developing countries, including Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and Small Island Developing States (SIDS). We will step up efforts to make a meaningful contribution for the success of the SDG Summit in September 2023 and the Summit of the Future in 2024.

4. Recognising that social and economic development depends on the sustainable management of our planet's limited natural resources, we commit to strengthen G20's efforts in building an integrated approach for achieving sustainable development in its three dimensions—economic, social and environmental—in a balanced and integrated manner. We encourage national governments including local and regional governments, international organizations, the private sector and other non-state actors, and individuals to promote sustainable consumption and production patterns, including and amongst others by embracing a lifestyles for sustainable development to strengthen international cooperation and partnerships, for sharing knowledge, expertise and best practices and mobilizing adequate, affordable, accessible financing from all sources. We will promote provision of technical assistance to strengthen developing countries' scientific, technological, educational and innovative capacities and enhance productivity to move towards sustainable patterns of consumption and production by pursuing zero-waste, circular economy, resource-efficiency and other innovative approaches, including climate-sensitive and agro-ecological approaches that can address the impacts of climate change, biodiversity loss, desertification, land degradation as well as the impact of water stress and pollution on human health and the environment.

5. Acknowledging that the achievement of sustainable development will not be possible without gender equality and given that women and girls continue to be denied their rights and equal opportunities, we commit to policies and initiatives that will enable all women and girls in diverse situations and conditions irrespective of age, disability, race, ethnicity, origin, religion or economic or economic or other status (i) to live free from all forms of gender-based violence and abuse; (ii) to ensure equal access to quality and safe education, economic, digital and health resources, and social protection; (iii) to equally distribute care work; promote investment in the availability and accessibility of affordable care infrastructure; and address the unequal distribution in unpaid care and domestic work; (iv) to provide equal opportunities for education, skills training, nutrition, decent work and enable them to take up leadership and other decision-making roles at all levels, including in climate change mitigation and adaptation actions and disaster risk reduction; (v) to combat harmful gender norms and stereotypes; and (vi) to support women's rights organizations as one of the important pathways to advance gender equality and sustainable development, and in this context reaffirm the importance of collecting, analysing and disseminating disaggregated data to develop and strengthen evidence-based public policies and programmes in order to leave no one behind.

6. Recognizing that digital transformation and data advances are important instruments that can help advance, support and accelerate the achievement of many of the SDGs—such as those related to eradicating poverty in all its forms and dimensions, reducing maternal and child mortality, promoting sustainable and resilient agriculture and food systems, decent work, and achieving universal literacy—we encourage promoting digital technologies; equal access to affordable connectivity and technology devices; narrowing the digital divide between and within countries, as well as the gender digital divide and data divide; enhancing digital inclusion through literacy, vocational skills and competency development programmes; encouraging digital solutions, products and tools produced by women and youth; supporting capacity building in developing countries to enable them to harness data for development, including through investments in the digital economy, and digital infrastructure; and enhancing international collaboration to promote inclusive, development-oriented and non-discriminatory digital transformation, while addressing the challenges and risks linked to it.

7. Acknowledging the SDGs' financing gap while taking note of the ongoing discussions on the UN Secretary General's proposal for SDG stimulus at the UN as well as the upcoming Paris Summit for New Global Financing Pact and reaffirming that addressing the growing debt vulnerabilities, removing bottlenecks faced by developing countries in availing financing and resource mobilization from all sources—public and private, domestic and international, including innovative financing mechanisms such as blended finance, de-risking instruments and other sustainability-related financial instruments—are crucial for the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and achievement of its SDGs. In this regard, we also reaffirm, and reiterate the call for enhancing international cooperation, strengthening and evolving of multilateral development banks, given the scope and complexity of transboundary challenges, and enhancing partnerships with international and regional organisations, including IFIs, MDBs and regional banks, financial institutions and the private sector, to scale up long-term, affordable, accessible, sustainable, and inclusive financing, including concessional financing needed to achieve sustainable development, especially of the developing countries. We underline the importance of enhancing debt transparency and sustainability and implementing coordinated debt treatments under the G20 Common Framework for Debt Treatment beyond the DSSI in a predictable, timely, orderly and coordinated manner and in this context call for strengthening G20 efforts, including through collaboration with relevant G20 work streams. We also recognize the contribution of Total Official Support for Sustainable Development (TOSSD) as one of the voluntary statistical frameworks to measure progress in achieving the 2030 Agenda.

8. Reiterating our unwavering commitment to international cooperation, multilateralism and global solidarity as the best way for the world to effectively address, overcome and recover from the current and other pressing global crises and challenges, we emphasise the need for greater collaboration, partnerships and contributions of all partners and stakeholders, including that of the civil society, the private sector and academia, among others, and in this regard underline the importance of international partnerships with partner countries, the United Nations system and other relevant international organizations, while emphasizing the need for enhancing North-South, South-South and Triangular cooperation.

9. Emphasizing the key role of the G20 Development Working Group (DWG) in advancing the G20's contribution to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals, and in coordination with other G20 work streams, we welcome the close collaboration and alignment between the DWG and other G20 working groups facilitated by the Indian Presidency, and acknowledge the importance of building on past G20 achievements and existing initiatives to ensure continuity and effectiveness of G20 actions to foster an inclusive recovery, especially in developing countries including LDCs and SIDS.

10. The war in Ukraine has further adversely impacted the global economy. There was a discussion on the issue. We reiterated our national positions as expressed in other fora, including the UN Security Council and the UN General Assembly, which, in Resolution No. ES-11/1 dated 2 March 2022, as adopted by majority vote (141 votes for, 5 against, 35 abstentions, 12 absent) deplores in the strongest terms the aggression by the Russian Federation against Ukraine and demands its complete and unconditional withdrawal from the territory of Ukraine. Most members strongly condemned the war in Ukraine and stressed it is causing immense human suffering and exacerbating existing fragilities in the global economy – constraining growth, increasing inflation, disrupting supply chains, heightening energy and food insecurity, and elevating financial stability risks. There were other views and different assessments of the situation and sanctions. Recognizing that the G20 is not the forum to resolve security issues, we acknowledge that security issues can have significant consequences for the global economy.[2]

11. It is essential to uphold international law and the multilateral system that safeguards peace and stability. This includes defending all the Purposes and Principles enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations and adhering to international humanitarian law, including the protection of civilians and infrastructure in armed conflicts. The use or threat of use of nuclear weapons is inadmissible. The peaceful resolution of conflicts, efforts to address crises, as well as diplomacy and dialogue, are vital. Today's era must not be of war.

12. The Development Ministers endorsed the work done by the Development Working Group and had unanimously adopted the following outcome documents:

The outcome documents adopted today shall be submitted for consideration by the Leaders to be annexed to the G20 Summit Declaration to be held in New Delhi on 9-10 September 2023.

13. We express our appreciation to India for its leadership of the G20 in 2023 and for stewarding and enhancing our development agenda. In this regard, we recognize and thank the contributions of all the participating international organizations – ADB, ILO, ITU, OECD, UNCTAD, UNDP, UNEP, UNFCCC, UNIDO, UNSG-OSET and WBG.

14. We welcome Brazil's G20 Presidency in 2024 and the Republic of South Africa's G20 Presidency in 2025 to take forward the collective agenda of the G20 DWG.

[1] Russia disassociated itself from the status of this document as a common outcome because of references to para 10 and 11. ↩

[2] China stated that the meeting outcome should not include any reference to the Ukraine crisis. ↩

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