During the Opening Event of the business forum, this Monday (29), the leaders of the discussion groups highlighted the efforts of each theme towards inclusive growth for a sustainable future.

                                   B20 Brasil Opening Event marks the official start of B20 Brasil 202 Photo: Paula Johas/Firjan

Eight CEOs of large Brazilian companies presented to a business audience of around 700 people, in Rio de Janeiro, the main issues that will be discussed by B20 Brasil throughout 2024. The topics are part of the business forum's task forces, the most influential G20 engagement group.

The debate took place during the Opening Event of B20 Brasil, in Rio de Janeiro, the G20 engagement group coordinated by the Brazilian National Confederation of Industry (CNI). This year, in addition to the return of the Integrity and Compliance group, the Sustainable Food Systems and Agriculture task force and the Women, Diversity and Inclusion in Business Action council were created.

The panel, moderated by the B20 Brasil sherpa, Constanza Negri, reinforced that all the forum's work throughout the Brazilian administration will be guided by the theme "inclusive growth for a sustainable future" and the pillars defined based on it:

1 - promote inclusive growth and combat hunger, poverty and inequalities

 2 - promote a fair transition to net zero

3 - increase productivity through innovation

4 - promote the resilience of global value chains

5 – value human capital

TRADE AND INVESTMENT

Amid transformations in the commercial dynamics of the world's main economies, B20 Brazil will debate how to promote open, equitable and more efficient international trade. The trade and investment task force will study measures to make global value chains more resilient and create an enabling environment for cross-country investment and inclusive growth.

The main commercial centers such as China, the European Union and the United States remain important, but trade corridors with developing countries have gained relevance. A Boston Consulting Group (BCG) study predicts significant growth within and between these countries, while several key trade corridors may shrink or grow more slowly.

The challenges to achieving improvements are many: in addition to the change in international trade, more frequent climate change, geopolitical challenges, disputes over maritime trade routes, inflationary pressures since the Covid-19 pandemic and the increase in implementation of carbon boundary adjustment mechanisms.

At the helm of Embraer since 2019, President Francisco Gomes Neto leads the Trade and Investment task force. According to him, the group will work to increase global trade and investment and develop all sectors, without exception.

“We have seen threatened trade relations, climate change, recent conflicts. The meetings over the next few months will be a great opportunity to move towards a fair and open global system. It is necessary to discuss how to reformulate global trade, the approach to climate change. We are excited to work with other leaders and help G20 countries create more opportunities in global trade and investment,” said the president of Embraer.

EMPLOYMENT AND EDUCATION

The Employment and Education task force will discuss measures to reduce disparities in employment and education and align, through suggestions for improving the skills of the workforce through upskilling, reskilling and continuous learning adapted to the demands of the global labor market. The discussions will be part of the business group's general objective of promoting inclusive growth, a theme aligned with G20 Brazil.

One of the objectives of the B20 education and employment task force is to suggest policies that improve the skills of the workforce through upskilling, reskilling and continuous learning adapted to the demands of the global labor market.

The main challenges, according to the task force leader and CEO of Suzano, Walter Schalka, stood out after the pandemic and are related to new technologies and climate change.

• the first is the increase in economic and social inequalities around the world and access to education, a trend that worsens especially when observing the impact of the pandemic in lower income countries
•  the second has to do with geopolitical changes
•  the third is the climate crisis, which demands the construction of climate resilience
• the fourth is the advancement of artificial intelligence, which will have several benefits, but will cause challenges for the employment and education scenario.

“We must work on this for the next generations, of children and grandchildren. The objective is to create equal opportunities especially in disadvantaged communities, boost sustainable development, improve access for all. Adaptability and resilience will be our companions on this challenging journey, and together we can create a future in which employment and education are not responsive but transformative, leaving no one behind,” he said.

ENERGY TRANSITION

The B20 also wants to join forces with the group's member governments to accelerate the fair global energy transition and minimize the effects of climate change. According to an estimate by the United Nations (UN), G20 countries account for 80% of global emissions, although they are home to 60% of the world's population.

The union of public and private sectors is essential to manage the situation. According to the McKinsey Global Institute, the investment needed to eliminate carbon emissions would be 275 trillion dollars by 2050, that is, 9.2 trillion dollars per year, on average. This represents an annual increase of up to $3.5 trillion over current investment, which is equivalent to half of global corporate profits, a quarter of total tax revenue and 7% of household spending.

For the leader of the energy transition task force and CEO of Raízen, Ricardo Mussa, we are still not doing a good job, so we need to move forward. “I participated in the B20 previously and saw that there were many possibilities discussed, but we need to put everything into action. Our country has done a great job of replacing fossil fuels in transportation. Our main challenge is to execute actions that have a global impact”, said Mussa.

DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

With the increasing adoption of digital technology, a digital transformation that is sustainable, inclusive and resilient is essential. The B20 Brazil task force is committed to leading this transformation, focusing on advances in digital infrastructure, cybersecurity and the adoption of emerging Technologies.

According to data from the National Confederation of Industry (CNI), based on international studies, internet use varies significantly around the world, being 33% in Africa and 87% in Europe. This panorama highlights the urgent need to reduce global digital disparities. In relation to the business world, micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), which account for around 90% of companies and 50% of employment worldwide, are left behind when it comes to digitalization.

The B20 Digital Transformation task force is led by Tupy's CEO, Fernando Rizzo. The executive reinforced that although the group's mission is to discuss technology and digitalization, the concept of digital transformation is much broader.

“Digital is not the end, it is part of the path. And our mission is to propose recommendations that will prepare the business environment to accelerate mechanisms necessary for education, digital transformation, food security, income, housing. Our task force will work on policies that support the use of the digital world to facilitate practical initiatives along this path. We cannot work on this strength while ignoring the conditions of the world we live in,” said Rizzo.

FINANCE AND INFRASTRUCTURE

Given the global effort to limit the increase in the Earth's temperature to 1.5º C, increasing financing for projects linked to climate issues is one of the private sector's bets for global financing. This is one of the key debate posts of the Task Force on Finance and Infrastructure, led by the founding partner of EB Capital, Luciana Antonini Ribeiro.

In addition to contributing to the environment, the alignment of financial strategies with sustainability opens new paths for economic growth, at a time of global recovery from financial crises caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and conflicts that disorganized production chains.

This could also be an opportunity for Brazil. In 2022, total investments sent by B20 economies amounted to US$33.1 trillion. The investments received in the year were US$ 35.1 trillion. Brazil lost share as a recipient of direct investment among G 20 members between 2013 and 2022, going from 3.2% (10th position) to 2.3% (11th position).

Two other priorities of the finance task force to strengthen the global financial system are risk mitigation in line with international cooperation and innovation of financing mechanisms, including diversifying sources, improving efficiency and strengthening access to emerging markets.

For global problems, we need global efforts. “We certainly need to transform finance into an engine that will drive a new economic model based on cleaner energy. We will meet in the coming months and work in alignment with other forces, with the aim of leveraging the financial infrastructure to support the transition to zero emissions and social development. We want to do it in a pragmatic way to have, in the end, practical recommendations”, explained Luciana.

INTEGRITY AND COMPLIANCE

Among the recommendations that the G20 Brazil business group - B20 Brasil - wants to discuss to take to the general summit of the world's largest economies, at the end of the year, are measures that contribute to the fight against corruption and the awareness of ethical conduct as an element critical in business.

In addition to recognizing the importance of social, environmental and governance transparency, the B20 Brasil Integrity and Compliance task force wants to address challenges related to supply chain management, which must equally adhere to high standards of environmental, labor and other regulations.

With a strong position in the airline niche and the first woman to preside over an aviation company in Brazil, Claudia Sender leads the task force, which returned to the B20 structure in Brazilian management. The executive believes that the resumption of the topic at the forum reflects recognition of the importance of the subject in creating a business environment that works for everyone.

“Our commitment is to elevate business integrity and transparency as factors that contribute to a more egalitarian society. Our role as leaders is to build an ethical business culture. The discussion evolved over time, from an anti-corruption focus to a more holistic perspective aligned with social and environmental principles and avoiding harassment, discrimination and racism, making companies more resilient to disruption and unforeseen risks, in addition to mitigating risks for emergency management.

SUSTAINABLE FOOD SYSTEMS AND AGRICULTURE

The G20 Brazil business forum will discuss ways to combat hunger and transform world food systems, as a way of contributing to a more sustainable, inclusive and resilient economy. A survey by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO/UN) estimates that around 30% of the food produced on the planet is wasted or lost per year, with up to 1.3 billion tons, around 77 million tons in Latin America alone.

In addition to encouraging sustainable production and productivity to reduce waste, the B20 sustainable food systems and agriculture task force will discuss, with businesspeople from all G20 countries, challenges such as the current distribution imbalance in the world and education nutritional.

Leader of the task force and global president of JBS, Gilberto Tomazoni highlighted that the topic was taken up by the business forum in this administration after five years and that the global food system is a very impressive achievement of humanity, with gains in productivity that have increased food security and reduced people's spending on food. Therefore, they need to be debated.

“In relation to production, our effort should firstly be to increase productivity and then improve the lives of those who make up our food system, for example, small producers need to be involved, have technical and financial support. We have to consider global population growth, reduce this productivity gap between different countries to reduce poverty and food insecurity, which impacts 2.3 billion people around the world”, analyzed the leader.

WOMEN, DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION IN BUSINESS ACTION

According to the Women in the Workplace 2022 study, by McKinsey & Company, leadership positions remain predominantly male and white - only one in four leaders is a woman, with one in 20 being a black woman. The data reinforces the challenges that must be debated by one of the B20 Brazil task forces, the G20 business engagement group.

The leader of the task force and responsible for Ebanx's global payments division, Paula Bellizia, recalled that the group was created in this administration as something essential and has a vision with several facets. Thus, the objective is to advance social inclusion, address poverty and recognize the transformative power of these initiatives.

“We want to increase human capital, we have several challenges. We have to think about how we are going to create jobs, in an innovative way, to promote inclusive growth. We already know that companies that have diversity have better productivity, so this is not just a question of social policy, but of impacts and results”, stated Bellizia.

B20 IN BRAZIL

The launch of the B20 Brasil work takes place this Monday (29), at the Federation of Industries of the State of Rio de Janeiro (FIRJAN), in Rio de Janeiro, and brings together government authorities, such as the vice-president and minister of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade (MDIC), Geraldo Alckmin, and CEOs of Brazilian and foreign companies. Since the business forum was created, this is the first time that Brazil has assumed coordination, carried out by the CNI.