Energized under the umbrella of the Task Team on South-South cooperation, the role of Southern academia in global development, as suggested by the 2011 Bangkok Call [pdf], is becoming stronger every day. The Mexican presidency of the G20 has now invited a series of think tanks, many of them from the South, to reflect on key issues to be addressed at the next G20 Summit, to be held in Los Cabos (June 2012). An exchange of ideas between the Mexican G20 coordinators, the so-called sherpas, and think tanks will take place on 27 and 28 February in Mexico City.

Although led by Northern institutions, this Think Tank 20 (Think-20) group also involves representatives from Southern academia. These include, for instance, Rogerio Sobreira from the Getulio Vargas Foundation (Brazil), Monica Wihardja from the Center for Strategic and International Studies (Indonesia), Enrique Berruga and Andres Rozental from the COMEXI (Mexico), and Catherine Grant from the South African Institute of International Affairs. The think tank representatives have now submitted a series of memos with wide-ranging proposals for guiding the G20 work through a highly volatile global environment.

While the previous presidencies (France in 2011 and Korea in 2010) only considered business representatives (the so-called B-20) as partners for informal exchanges, the Mexican presidency is scaling up the G20's capacities by including external analysis in its preparations for the Los Cabos Summit. This move is especially relevant in view of the substantial space opened to Southern knowledge and expertise, as a key strategy to inform G20's deliberations and decisions. It is not a minor change: So far, the G20 agenda has been informed almost exclusively by multilateral organizations and specifically by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

Despite these significant advances, the development agenda remains a rather weak pillar within the G20 priorities, primarily focused on green growth and climate change. Key challenges for the G20 to play a meaningful role in development, described in this policy brief (en español aquí), remain unsolved. In particular the close synergies with other global, UN-led development agendas (including the Rio+20 conference and the post-Durban process around climate finance) will be key to the legitimacy of this year's G20 work, while also a more consistent approach to horizontal partnerships with non-member developing countries is urgently needed.

Want to know more about the G20 development agenda?

- Good overview and resources on G20 at the Boell Foundation, including this recent Update [pdf]

- In-depth review in FRIDE policy brief "The G20 - Driving development behind closed doors", en español "El G20: Impulsar el desarrollo a puerta cerrada"