B20 Summit: 'Important to get away from protectionism', says G20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant

India’s G20 Sherpa and former Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant on Friday called on the need for behavioural changes in order to create a liveable world. "Every single country today is at a different stage of development and the challenge is to bring consensus. One key area where consensus has been brought in to a great extent is on “lifestyle for sustainability”. Not just governments can bring this, it requires individual behavioural change," he said at the B20 Summit today.

Kant cited International Energy Association (IEA) which has said that a mere behavioural change will lead to 30 per cent reduction in greenhouse gases.

Speaking about India's G20 presidency, he said this is an opportunity for the country to be inclusive, decisive, action oriented and ambitious. India has taken the G20 presidency to all the states of India, he said, adding that the country has hosted it in 60 cities of India and it has made it a “People’s Presidency” in this course of one year.

"During India’s G20 presidency, the key is that we’ll drive for strong, sustainable, inclusive and balanced growth. The world is getting into recession. After every pandemic, historically, the world has seen six years of protectionism. It is important for the world to get away from protectionism because free trade has lifted people above the poverty line," he said.

Moreover, he pointed IMF's predictions that stated this year 80 per cent of the growth is going to come from Global South. "All the growth is now going to come from the global south. The demographics are young and there's a low-dependency burden," he added.

"If two third of the growth is going to come from global South, and if resources are made available, backed by good governance in the global South, then the world will grow for the next three to four decades," he stated.

Kant also pointed that technological transformation and public digital infrastructure are the top priorities of India. He also said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has pushed inclusion as the top priority in B20, in which he has emphasised women-led development for global growth by bridging the digital divide and better health and learning outcomes and eventually breaking the vicious cycle of malnutrition.

Business 20 or B20 is one of the G20 forums representing the global business community, which was set up in 2010. The G20 Summit will be held next month.

The theme of B20 is focused on ensuring responsible, accelerated, innovative, sustainable and equitable access to all businesses, B20 India Chair N Chandrasekaran told reporters on Thursday.