The G20: its role and legacy
The G20 was created in 1999 in response to the financial crises in the late 1990s, the growing influence of emerging market economies on the global economy, and their disproportionately modest participation in the decision-making process. G20 Leaders met for the first time in 2008 in Washington, D.C. And at that time the G20 was to play a pivotal role in responding to the global economic and financial crisis. The main objective of upgrading the level of consultations within the G20 was to cope with then current and set a framework for preventing future financial crises, while securing sustainabler and balanced global growth and reforming the architecture of global governance.
Once it became a venue for the meetings of heads of states and governments, the G20 has been considered a major mechanism for international economic cooperation, regulating financial markets and influencing global economic policy.
The G20's major achievements include strengthening the role of emerging economies, such as BRICS, reforming international financial institutions, improving discipline and tightening oversight over national financial institutions and regulators, improving the quality of financial regulations in economies whose regulatory problems led to the crisis, and creating financial and organizational safety nets to prevent severe economic slumps in the future.