The International Co-operative Alliance has a wide range of representatives on the B20 group, which makes direct recommendations to the governments of the G20.
The B20 forum of business representatives has a direct line of communication with the Group of 20 (G20) leaders. The private sector, which includes co-operatives, makes policy recommendations to the G20 annual meeting.
In the latest round of recommendations, the Alliance worked in sub-groups to ensure co-operatives are mentioned when looking at solutions to small and medium business, and employments and education.
The G20 includes governments and central bank governors from the world’s 20 major economies, all seeking to address issues that go beyond the capabilities of one state.
Members are 19 individual countries along with the European Union, represented by the European Central Bank and the European Commission. The G20 economies account for 85% of the Gross World Product and 80% of world trade.
The B20 acts as a platform for dialogue among policymakers, the civil society and businesses at international level. Every year the B20 and G20 forums are hosted by a different member state. The B20 currently consists of 706 members from 39 countries. In 2017 the Forum is taking place in Germany, with the theme - Resilience, Responsibility, Responsiveness – Towards a Future-oriented, Sustainable World Economy”.
The Alliance’s engagement with the B20 intensified in 2014 when Andrew Crane, chief executive of Australian grain co-operative CBH and chair of the Australian Business Council of Co-operatives and Mutuals (BCCM) was invited to take part in the B20 leadership group.
Since then, co-operative delegates from members of the Alliance have continued to participate in the B20 meetings, which take place throughout the year, to make a case for co-operatives.
Throughout the year, representatives from global industrial and commercial enterprises, including co-operatives, met to discuss policy recommendations for the annual meeting of the G20.
Alliance President Monique Leroux was a co-chair of the B20 Cross-Thematic Group for Small and Medium Enterprises and a member of the Financing Growth and Infrastructure Taskforce. Alliance Director-General Charles Gould was a member of the Responsible Businesses group and the Digitalization Task Force. Andrew Crane, CEO of CBH group in Australia, is a member of the SME group. Rodrigo Gouveia, Director of Policy, was on the Employment and Education Taskforce and on the SMEs Coordination Group. Shaun Tarbuck, ICMIF chief executive, was also a member of the Financing Growth and Infrastructure Group. This year the B20 also created a ‘Health Initiative’ where co-operatives are represented by Carlos Zarco from the International Health Co-operative Organisation (IHCO), an Alliance sectoral organisation.
