A/HRC/42/48 with OECD, the Inclusive Framework on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting, which concerns tax-planning strategies that exploit gaps in tax rules to shift profits to low- or no-tax locations where there is little or no economic activity. 12 12. In addition to global governance forums having collateral impacts on nations outside of their groupings, some Governments have taken advantage of them as a space to coordinate foreign policy approaches, including as regards non-member States and regions. For example, in 2019, G7 members adopted initiatives aimed at promoting health and education in the Sahel, home to some of the world’s poorest countries.13 In another example, declarations by the Non-Aligned Movement have addressed issues such as the imposition of sanctions, foreign occupation and the territorial claims of other member States. 14 13. Some groupings that have emerged – such as G77, the Non-Aligned Movement and BRICS – have, by design, sought to raise the voices of developing countries and emerging powers in the global sphere. By bringing the perspectives of countries of the global South to table, these groupings have succeeded in putting their own substantive issues on the global agenda. G77, for example, has raised such issues as developing countries’ sovereignty over their natural resources, the need to reduce poverty and inequality in the world and the desire for more inclusive economic development, including development that includes job creation and social protection for communities. 15 Procedural issues that are connected to substantive ones, such as States having proportional responsibility for the United Nations budget according to their wealth, have also been raised. 16 14. At the same time, G77, the Non-Aligned Movement and BRICS have highlighted the need for global governance itself to be further democratized. They have done this by pointing to inequalities between States in terms of representation in global governance structures, raising concerns about the inequitable outcomes of the prevailing international financial architecture and advocating diversity both of background and of viewpoint in international institutions. However, as member States of G77 and the Non-Aligned Movement have cautioned, the influence of these groupings on the international order has been constrained – especially more recently and in traditional intergovernmental organizations – by the opposing viewpoints of non-member States. 15. One of the demonstrable impacts of the BRICS alignment on the international order is the establishment of the New Development Bank (formerly referred to as the “BRICS Development Bank”), which observers have compared to the World Bank in terms of its ambitious agenda. One respondent indicated that the New Development Bank had helped mobilize resources to fill gaps in infrastructure development in countries of the global South.17 There is hope that the Bank can model new forms of development financing that are sustainable and incur fewer environmental costs; however, as a relatively new institution, commitment to doing so remains to be seen.18 16. Ministerial meetings, such as those hosted by G7 countries, are a unique opportunity for government ministers to share experiences in a semi-informal manner. During the Independent Expert’s consultations, it was noted that these global forums can have a stabilizing effect on governance, since the forums enable leaders to make sense of the challenges that they face and motivate them to view those challenges from a global perspective. In doing so, global governance forums may prevent leaders from taking unilateral approaches, which might otherwise disrupt the international order. In addition, the Independent Expert has been informed that the protected atmosphere of the groupings provides a safe space where leaders can discuss issues in a frank manner, thereby paving the way for the type of consensual decision-making that is currently difficult to come by in 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 See www.oecd.org/tax/beps/beps-about.htm. See the submission by Women 7; see also G7, “Joint Paris G7/G5 Sahel communiqué”, 4 July 2019. See, for example, Non-Aligned Movement, final document of the seventeenth Summit Conference of Heads of State or Government of Non-Aligned Countries, 17 and 18 September 2016. See South Centre, South Bulletin, No. 81 (25 July 2014), pp. 6–7. See the submission by the Government of Ecuador. See the submission by Conectas Direitos Humanos. Ibid. 5