PRESIDENT Luiz Inacio “Lula” da Silva took over as the leader of the Group of 20 leading economies on Sunday, calling for action to tackle hunger and poverty across the globe.

As the role was passed to Lula at the close of the 18th leaders summit in New Delhi, the Brazilian leader said that under his country’s presidency there will be three main priorities.

He said that for the year of the Brazilian presidency, the G20 will prioritise social inclusion and the fight against hunger, poverty and inequality, tackling climate change and promoting sustainable development in its economic, social and environmental dimensions and the reform of global governance institutions to more reflect current geopolitics.

Lula said: “All these priorities are contained in the motto of the Brazilian presidency, which says ‘building a just world and a sustainable planet’.”

He announced that two task forces will be created: the Global Alliance against Hunger and Poverty and the Global Mobilisation against Climate Change.

He said: “We need to redouble our efforts to achieve the goal of ending world hunger by 2030, otherwise we will be facing the biggest multilateral failure in recent years. 

“Acting to combat climate change requires political will and determination from governments, as well as resources and technology transfer.”

He said that it was important that emerging nations should now have much more of a role in the decision-making in world bodies such as the United Nations.

Lula said: “To regain its political strength, the United Nations security council needs to count on the presence of new developing countries among its permanent and non-permanent members.”

The G20 brings together 19 of the world’s largest economies and the European Union. The African Union also became a permanent member during the India summit.

The Brazilian presidency begins on December 1 2023 and ends on November 30 2024.