Delegate Handbook
The March 2023 Handbook will be released ahead of the upcoming Summit. Our 2020-2021 staff closely followed the development of the real Riyadh Leaders’ Summit for the purpose of developing a detailed delegate handbook. The March 2021 Handbook is available for your review here. The password to access this guide for the 2021 Virtual Summit was sent to all registered delegations via email. Our program is designed to be accessible to participants with or without simulation experience. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact us.
Past Publications
Below are the publications from past Model G20 Summits. These publications include the Commuiqué, Special Statements, and Action Plans from each country.
Jump Start Your Research
In anticipation of the delegate handbook, you can jump start your research by reviewing official publications from the G20 and analysis from scholarly sources. The Indian Presidency has posted various resources including their agenda. We have also created a translation guide between Model UN and Model G20.
Useful scholarly sources include:
G20 Information Centre at the University of Toronto
G20 Studies Centre at the Lowy Institute
History of the G20
In the late 1990s, the global economy was being threatened by a financial crisis originating in Asia. Five years later, the Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors released a statement about their intention “to broaden the dialogue on key economic and financial policy issues among systemically significant economies and promote cooperation to achieve stable and sustainable world economic growth that benefits all.” For this reason, the G7 table was expanded in 1999 to include the largest economies in the global south, and thus the Group of Twenty (G20) was born into existence.
The G20 was back in the global limelight nine years later to develop a multilateral plan for dealing with the global financial crisis of 2008. This new crisis posed a much larger threat than the 1990s, which prompted the group’s original formation. For this reason, American President George Bush called for the first G20 Leaders’ Summit on September 15, 2008.
The first G20 Leaders’ Summit proved successful. The format was a refreshing change of pace from traditional international forums. Leaders were able to find quick agreement on a globally-coordinated fiscal and monetary stimulus, as well as a path to effectively regulate financial systems and markets. Unlike the United Nations and European Union, the G20 opts for a rotating presidency rather than a formal secretariat. With a change of presidency each year, the Troika also changes each year. The Troika is comprised of the current, former, and future presidencies.
There have been fourteen Leaders’ Summits since 2008, with the most recent taking place in Osaka, Japan in June 2019 under the presidency of Japan. Since their first meeting in Washington, DC, G20 Leaders have issued a “Communiqué,” which is published at the end of each Summit as a collective statement of the G20 Leaders. In this document, they share their common vision, goals, and agreed commitments regarding the state of the world, with a particular focus on the global economy and financial markets.