The G20 Summit held this month in Johannesburg marked a transformative moment in the evolution of global governance. It was the first time the summit convened on African soil and the first occasion on which the African Union joined as a full member, signaling a long-overdue recognition of Africa’s central role in shaping the global economic future. Yet this moment of historic inclusion was overshadowed by the equally unprecedented absence of a founding member-the United States-whose decision to boycott the summit on flimsy pretexts introduced a jarring note of discord. Washington’s attempt to block the host country from issuing a final declaration only further exposed the geopolitical tensions quietly reshaping the world’s most powerful economic forum.

South Africa, however, refused to acquiesce. As the G20’s rotating president, it chose to move forward with a final declaration in defiance of US pressure, underscoring a growing shift in global power away from unilateral dominance and toward multipolar dialogue. Pretoria’s boldness set the tone for a summit determined to broaden the G20’s agenda to include the concerns of Africa and the wider developing world-regions that have long suffered from structural economic disadvantages but have rarely been given meaningful space in global decision-making.

Among these new priorities was the most ambitious and potentially consequential agenda item the G20 has taken up in years: the fight against global inequality. For the first time, G20 leaders collectively confronted the issue through the lens of the Extraordinary Committee of Independent Experts on Global Inequality, chaired by Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz. Drawing from extensive research and consultations with dozens of leading economists and social scientists, the committee’s report paints a sobering picture of an economic world order that is becoming dangerously imbalanced.

While global inequality declined modestly in the early 2000s, this improvement was driven almost entirely by rising incomes in China. When China is removed from the equation, the trend reverses: inequality remains entrenched and, in many cases, is getting worse. The gap between the richest and poorest countries, though narrower than it once was, remains vast. Meanwhile, nine out of ten people live in societies where inequality levels are classified as high, based on the World Bank’s own conservative measures.

The pattern within countries is equally troubling. Wage shares of national income have been steadily declining for decades, replaced by the growing dominance of capital income-profits, dividends, rents, and interest. As economies have become more globalized and digitized, the corporations best positioned to exploit scale and intellectual property have amassed unprecedented market power. Giants in technology, pharmaceuticals, finance, and logistics now collect the majority of global corporate profits, with multinational conglomerates capturing the lion’s share.

This growing concentration of economic activity has contributed to another dramatic shift: the explosive rise of wealth inequality. The report highlights a stark comparison-since the beginning of the century, over 40% of all wealth generated globally has gone to the richest 1%, while the poorest half of humanity received only 1%. Even within that top 1%, the ultra-wealthy are racing away at a pace unmatched in human history, forming a globalized plutocratic elite with the financial firepower to shape institutions, influence political systems, and direct public debate. These individuals now operate as de facto policymakers in many countries, using their media holdings, lobbying networks, and philanthropic narratives to steer agendas in ways that often undermine democratic accountability.

The rise of this oligarchic class coincides with growing economic insecurity among workers worldwide. Job precarity, stagnant wages, weakened unions, and eroded social protections have created a climate of anxiety that feeds political polarization and fuels toxic narratives targeting migrants, minority groups, and women. Gender inequalities have deepened as economic pressures force women disproportionately into unstable, informal, or unpaid work. Far from being a mere statistic, inequality is reshaping the social fabric of nations and destabilizing political systems.

And the economic logic underlying high inequality is deeply flawed. Neoliberal economists once argued that inequality incentivizes innovation and fuels growth, but reality suggests the opposite. When mass consumption falters due to stagnant or falling real incomes, economies lose the benefits of broader demand and market expansion. Concentration of wealth dampens entrepreneurial dynamism and reinforces inherited privilege rather than rewarding effort or creativity. The wealthy spend and invest in fundamentally different ways-often speculatively-leading to inefficient allocation of resources that does little to benefit the broader economy.

Even more troubling is inequality’s environmental footprint. The consumption and investment patterns of the ultra-rich are vastly more carbon-intensive. Private jets, mega-yachts, sprawling estates, and speculative investments in resource extraction disproportionately contribute to climate destruction. In this sense, inequality is not only an economic crisis but a climate crisis multiplier, undermining global sustainability efforts.

A central argument of the Stiglitz committee’s report is that extreme inequality is not inevitable. It is the product of deliberate legal, regulatory, and policy decisions that have privileged capital over labor and private wealth over public wellbeing. Financial liberalization, weak financial oversight, and repeated bailouts have protected the fortunes of the wealthy at the public’s expense. Intellectual-property regimes have created artificial monopolies over knowledge. Privatization of essential services-from healthcare to water systems-has widened disparities. Meanwhile, outdated and loophole-ridden tax structures have enabled wealthy individuals and multinational firms to avoid paying their fair share.

Governments have not merely allowed inequality to grow-they have facilitated it. As public assets were sold and debt accumulated in the name of efficiency and growth, private fortunes ballooned. The balance of wealth shifted dramatically away from the public sector, undermining states’ ability to perform core functions such as education, welfare, and infrastructure investment.

The G20’s adoption of inequality as a core item on its agenda is an important symbolic step, but symbolism alone cannot reverse structural injustices built over decades. The committee’s most urgent recommendation is the establishment of an international panel of experts on inequality, modeled loosely on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. This independent, research-driven body would monitor inequality trends, evaluate data quality, develop new metrics, and assess the effectiveness of policies implemented by governments.

Such a panel would not solve inequality on its own, but it would provide the foundation upon which effective reforms can be built. It would give policymakers access to authoritative information, strengthen global advocacy networks, and empower citizens to demand accountability. In a world where political influence is increasingly shaped by wealth, credible knowledge becomes a form of power.

The G20 has the economic weight to transform the global trajectory on inequality. Its member states generate more than 80% of global GDP, control the majority of global financial institutions, and set norms that smaller states often follow. By elevating inequality to the level of a global emergency-on par with climate change-the G20 can shift the narrative from inevitability to responsibility.

The Johannesburg summit demonstrated that even in a fractured geopolitical landscape, meaningful progress is possible when leadership is courageous. South Africa’s insistence on issuing a final declaration, its commitment to inclusivity, and its determination to give voice to the Global South all underscore the possibility of a new multilateralism-one that is more equitable, representative, and attuned to the needs of humanity rather than the whims of elites.

But the fight against inequality will require more than declarations. It demands political will, structural reforms, and a commitment to rebuilding public institutions after decades of erosion. The G20 can lead, but only if it is willing to challenge entrenched interests and rethink the policies that have produced today’s economic divides.

The world is watching. And the stakes-economic justice, democratic stability, and planetary survival-could not be higher.

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