As you’ve probably heard, tonight marks the formal start of the G-20 meeting in London. The Group of 20, or G-20, is an international body that meets to discuss economic issues. The member countries are Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Britain, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey and the United States. The European Union is also a member, represented by the rotating council presidency and the European Central Bank.

At this year’s summit, countries need to come together to enhance global coordination in order to help restore global economic growth. World leaders must make three commitments:

• First, to take whatever action is necessary to stabilise financial markets and enable families and businesses to get through the recession.
• Second, to reform and strengthen the global financial and economic system to restore confidence and trust.
• Third, to put the global economy on track for sustainable growth.

The bulk of the work will take place during tomorrow’s plenary sessions attended by the various heads of state. However, today’s activities have been marred by ugly protests from individuals who are extremely unhappy with the decisions made by the government and the banks. The Guardian has been live blogging the events all day. Below are some of the highlights.

Protesters stormed a branch of the Royal Bank of Scotland, a recipient of government assistance, smashed windows and looted computers.

Hopefully tomorrow’s meeting is a little more constructive…

The WSJ has a good primer on what the G-20 is and what it does.

London Summit 2009 Homepage

Uncategorized G20, protests