February 20, 2024. RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil
The foreign affairs ministers of the world's main economies will land in Rio de Janeiro for the first G20 ministerial meeting under the Brazilian presidency. The event will have special security arrangements and extensive coverage by the foreign press: around 350 media professionals from the four corners of the world are expected to attend. Among the confirmed authorities are US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russian Foreign Affairs Minister Sergei Lavrov.
Everything is ready to welcome the foreign affairs ministers of the world's largest economies in the Marina da Glória in Rio de Janeiro for the first G20 ministerial meeting under the Brazilian presidency. The guests will participate this Wednesday (21) and Thursday (22) in the most important meeting of the Sherpas Track before the Summit that will bring together heads of State and government in November, also in Rio de Janeiro.
Among those confirmed are US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who will visit President Lula in Brasilia before going on to the meeting in Rio de Janeiro, and Russian Foreign Affairs Minister Sergei Lavrov. Besides the ministers of Foreign Affairs and representatives from the 19 countries that compose the G20 plus the African Union and the European Union, authorities from the countries invited by the Brazilian presidency and representatives from the twelve international organizations invited will also be present.
Around 350 press professionals from all over the world have been accredited to cover the meeting. TV, radio, internet portals, printed newspapers, podcasts and social networks from countries such as Russia, Japan, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Spain, China, England, the United States and the United Arab Emirates will be at the event. The youth press from the Andar project, in a partnership between G20 Brasil communications and Rio de Janeiro City Hall, will also be covering the meeting.
Given the relevance of the meeting, the Brazilian Intelligence Agency (ABIN) carried out Vulnerability Assessment Reports (RAVs) of the location of the event, the same protocol followed for the next ministerial meeting, this time of the Finance Track, at Ibirapuera Park, in São Paulo, on February 28 and 29.
The RAVs aim to point out to those responsible for the organization the main vulnerabilities of the chosen locations, making it possible to mitigate them in advance. The reports are also shared with partner agencies of the Brazilian Intelligence System (Sisbin) in charge of the security of the invited authorities.
Program restricted to foreign affairs ministers
Tomorrow (Wednesday), the meeting will take place between 14:00 and 18:30. On Thursday (22), the debates occur between 8 am and 1 pm. The meetings are closed, but the foreign affairs ministers of each country decide whether to grant interviews to the press during the program. The Brazilian sherpa, Ambassador Mauricio Carvalho Lyrio, will hold a press conference for journalists accredited at the event today at 3pm, on the expectations of the Brazilian presidency of the G20 for the meeting. Brasil's Foreign Affairs Minister, Mauro Vieira, is expected to give a keynote speech on the first day of the meeting.
A dinner will be offered to the foreign affairs ministers at the end of the first day of the event and bilateral or multilateral meetings between countries will happen throughout the event, in a place reserved at Marina da Glória for this purpose, both to build consensus on themes pertinent to the G20 and to sign agreements in different sectors.
On Friday (23), after completing the foreign affairs ministers' meeting, the event "G20 Countries and Biofuels Diplomacy", organized by Columbia University in partnership with the Climate Hub, Columbia Global Center Rio and Rio de Janeiro City Hall, will begin in the capital of Rio de Janeiro at the Palácio da Cidade.
Among those confirmed are the ambassadors of Indonesia and India, the countries that held the last two presidencies of the G20, the Secretary of Climate, Energy and Environment of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador André Corrêa do Lago, sherpas from G20 countries and experts on the subject. The seminar seeks to reflect on how the G20 countries can collaborate to accelerate the energy transition. This year, one of the actions of the Brazilian presidency is the Bioeconomy Initiative.
