Global Youth's Priorities, a Feature by the Youngest Member of Y20 2022

Toàn Oswald is an undergraduate student at Sciences Po's College, on Le Havre campus (Minor Asia-Pacific), and at the National University of Singapore's Honors College. He is one of the four members of the French delegation to Y20 Indonesia 2022,  the official consultation forum for youth from all G20 members states and institutions. He is the youngest delegate of more than a hundred young participants. Particularly interested in education and transition to employment, especially through the cooperation of public and private actors on a global scale, he wrote the preamble to the communiqué and chaired two working groups within the "Youth Employment" section. He shares his experience with Sciences Po in the following op-ed as well as during Dean Balme’s "The G3: EU-US-China relations" class, reminding how Y20 proposals, as strong as they are, need to be heard and taken into account by leaders.

Y20, a summit dedicated to the youth of G20 members

G20 2022, whose leaders met on 15 and 16 November 2022 in Bali, was generally welcomed as a success despite the Covid crisis and the war in Ukraine. The result of the G20 is not surprising: while in a context of evolution of multilateralism, affirmation of the major emerging countries, rise of China, sectorization of alliances between states, rise of realpolitik at the expense of ideology and disappearance of mechanical friendships between allied states, G20 is positioned at the crossroads of what major global powers expect. The Y20, or G20 Youth Summit, benefits from the strategic position of its older brother to become the most representative and legitimate conference of the world’s youth at the global scale.

Towards a polarized multilateralism?

The 21st century is witnessing a profound evolution of the world order: the global South is gaining power economically and politically, China is gaining influence and leading many international institutions (WTO, IMF, WHO, FAO...) and regional institutions (ASEAN, BRICS...), the countries that met in 1955 in Bandung remain non-aligned but are choosing to invest more in multilateral partnerships... The world order is no longer centered around the United States, Europe and China. Ideology is no longer the cement of relations between states: strategic interests prevail. For example, since Indonesia needs Chinese FDI and China needs Indonesian nickel, the two states cooperate economically, without implying any form of military or political cooperation.

Multilateralism changes: the world order is becoming regionalized, made up of increasingly autonomous powers. This is reflected in the number of thematic international organizations and summits: the COP only deals with climate change, ASEAN does not go beyond economic cooperation... Polylateralism is also on the rise, as many non-governmental actors seem to bear a growingly central role in diplomacy. 

G20 as a crossroads

G20’s situation is what policymakers are looking for. As a meeting of the world's nineteen most powerful states and the European Union, the summit brings together 85% of the world's economy and population in informal meetings, which leaders value for the quick and effective decisions they can make. The commitments adopted by consensus by the leaders during the G20 are not legally binding and can be transposed into frameworks requiring their application later, upon reflection (UN General Assembly and Security Council for example).

Y20, an ambitious little brother

G20, like the G7, entrusts part of its reflections to "engagement groups". These are meetings hosted by civil society organizations with the support of the country chairing the G20. The main engagement groups are the B20 ("Business 20"), the T20 ("Think 20") and the Y20 ("Youth 20"). Y20 meets annually during a week-long summit prior to the G20’s actual summit to produce a communiqué outlining youth recommendations on issues identified by the Presidency.

The Y20 2022 Summit was held on 17 to 24 July 2022 in Jakarta and Bandung, Indonesia. Delegations from each member country, composed of four young people between 18 and 30 years old, and observers (ASEAN, Spain, World Bank...) worked around four main themes: Sustainable and Livable Planet, Youth Employment, Diversity and Inclusion and Digital Transformation, between which delegates were divided.

The Y20 2022 communiqué highlights the primary desire to achieve a major transition of our societies towards more responsible and environmentally friendly models, through the establishment of ambitious, legally binding targets, the achievement of which is financed by the States and the private sector. Access to employment and education requires improvements in the quality of education, access to school for all, employment opportunities, and social protection for all workers. Progress must be made through improved public-private partnerships. Delegates also reaffirmed their commitment to a digital transition that democratizes access to the Internet for all, identifying it as a tool for global governance and development. 

Y20’s proposals may seem simpler than Y7’s (Y20’s equivalent to G7). This difference reflects an evolution in the respective roles of the G20 and G7, with the G20 taking on the role that the G7 had yesterday. Whereas G8 in 1997 brought together the world's largest economies, G7 is now a regional forum. Both G7 and Y7 can therefore go deeper in what they recommend or engage for, but only the most developed Western states have the means to get involved in such action. G20, on the other hand, brings together all the main state actors of the planet. Y20 benefits from this, increasing its legitimacy and representativeness.

Words are meant to be heard

G20 is rooted in the decline of the universalism in which Europe has believed for so long, and in the growing polarisation of the world order. Y20, who gains legitimacy from being truly representative, brings together young people from countries that have become central to the world economy and governance, and allows for the emphasis on the existence of a "global youth". 

Two limits remain: on the one hand, the representativeness of the young delegates within each country. Are the four delegates always the most representative of the youth of their country, given their respective education, social background, political sensibilities? On the other hand, the promotion of the communiqués, however realistic and ambitious they may be. The recommendations of the youth have value only when they are taken into account. It is therefore fundamental for the Y20 to assert its ideas, strengthened by its legitimacy, to those who have the power to make them legally binding: heads of state and parliaments.

MORE INFORMATION:

• Sciences Po's Undergraduate College
• Le Havre campus, Minor Asia-Pacific
• Y20 Indonesia 2022