Brazil’s presidency of the G20 2024: between the recovery of tradition and the innovation of Brazilian foreign policy

Abstract

This study highlights the role of Brazil’s presidency of the G20 in 2024 in restoring the country’s international prestige, which had declined during the previous administration, and in implementing key innovations under President Lula’s leadership within the forum. By using a descriptive and historical methodological approach, based on primary and secondary sources, the article is structured around an understanding of the G20’s origins, the role of the Global South in the international system, and the trajectory of Brazilian foreign policy over the years, providing a foundation for a comprehensive analysis of Brazil’s G20 presidency in 2024 and its ramifications. The broad scope of Brazil’s actions during its presidency demonstrates the country’s direct contribution to advancing social, environmental, and inclusive agendas, exemplified by initiatives such as the Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty and the G20 Social. The study also underscores the significance of Brazil’s presidency of the G20 in 2024 by reaffirming its commitment to the Global South, to the reform of financial institutions, and to peace, particularly in an international context marked by threats to multilateralism, the rise of the far right, and the reconfiguration of the global order.