ICC urges G20 action to avert political window-dressing

ICC Secretary General, John W.H. Denton AO said:

“We certainly welcome the G20’s decision to establish a new forum to tackle the growing global food security crisis. But, let’s be clear, this will only have real value if key G20 governments take action to unblock agricultural exports from Ukraine and reverse their recent export bans on staple commodities. If governments can’t find the political will to take action at home, the new G20 dialogue risks being nothing more than political window-dressing.

“More broadly, the global business community will be deeply concerned by the G20’s continued inability to take coordinated action to support the global economy. Absent of a pragmatic solution to allow the G20 to take decisions despite the continued participation of the Russian Federation, the world risks sailing rudderless through an unprecedented global cost of living crisis.

“The increasingly precarious fiscal position of emerging markets represents, in our view, one of the biggest downside risks to the global economy since the ‘08 financial crisis. How long will it be until the governments of the world’s leading economies realize it’s in their own interests to take action to head off the risk of widespread sovereign debt defaults?”