A/HRC/42/48
traditional intergovernmental forums due to the present day’s divisive geopolitics.
Moreover, it appears that States that have historically held oppositional stances in
intergovernmental debates interact collegially in meetings of economic groupings, where
they engage with each other on issues of shared interest, such as health and economics.
17.
Impact on the international order is clear in cases where decisions taken in global
governance forums are directly brought to meetings of traditional multilateral institutions
like the United Nations. However, even when the purpose of such meetings is not to
translate decisions to multilateral spaces, these groupings still manage to influence
multilateral agendas. G77, for example, largely operates as a caucus in which States
formulate mutual positions that they jointly present as resolutions to the Human Rights
Council and General Assembly. In other groupings, such as G20, impact on the multilateral
system comes through indirect influence. In particular, States may develop similar
strategies or positions within the global grouping that they uphold individually in
subsequent intergovernmental discussions. Conversely, according to a number of
respondents, the global governance groupings are spaces in which the 2030 Agenda for
Sustainable Development – a product of the United Nations – is regularly discussed.
18.
In contrast, however, there are also spaces – such as the World Economic Forum –
that do not have a mission that explicitly links them to the multilateral system, or even to
intergovernmental organizations. However, they still manage to influence the international
order by serving as incubators of ideas. In particular, they encourage leaders in Government,
business, academia and civil society to consider new issues on the horizon and to
brainstorm on new and collaborative approaches to persistent problems, which ultimately
influence how the world is ordered.
B.
Methods of participation and decision-making in global governance
frameworks
19.
The global governance forums described in the present report have diverse
configurations, goals and histories. The decision-making processes for each group are
similarly varied. For example, G7, G20, BRICS and the Non-Aligned Movement are best
known for hosting high-profile summits that bring together member countries’ Heads of
State or Government in rotating host countries. However, in the lead-up to these summits,
meetings are also held between member States’ finance ministers and other officials where
a plurality of decisions are negotiated. Overall, for G7, G20 and BRICS, the process is
steered by high-level diplomatic officials of the host country’s Government, known
informally as “sherpas”, who themselves meet several times during the year leading up to
the summit.
20.
G77 functions in a unique way. Unlike the other groupings, it is from within
different geographic chapters – each corresponding to the headquarters of a major
international organization – that the group makes decisions.19 While the G77 similarly hosts
annual high-level meetings to set priorities, the bulk of its work is carried out in chapterspecific discussions. Drawing on the declaration agreed at the annual summit, the chapters
decide by consensus resolutions to be submitted and actions to be taken within their
respective international organizations. The Intergovernmental Group of Twenty-four on
International Monetary Affairs and Development (G24), established by G77, is tasked with
coordinating the position of developing countries on monetary and development issues in
the deliberations of the Bretton Woods institutions. Its governing body meets twice a year,
before meetings of IMF and the World Bank.
19
6
In addition to New York (United Nations Headquarters), the chapters are Geneva (United Nations
Conference on Trade and Development), Nairobi (United Nations Environment Programme), Paris
(United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization), Rome (Food and Agriculture
Organization of the United Nations/International Fund for Agricultural Development) and Vienna
(United Nations Industrial Development Organization), and the Intergovernmental Group of Twentyfour on International Monetary Affairs and Development in Washington, D.C. See the submission by
the Government of Senegal, p. 2.
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