Leaders' 20 (L20) Project

Project Members: Andrew F. Cooper, Barry Carin, Clint Abbott, Colin Bradford, and Paul Heinbecker

Project Objectives & Background

The L20 Project was established by CIGI in cooperation with the Centre for Global Studies (CFGS) at the University of Victoria, British Columbia to explore the feasibility and the benefits of the proposed G20 Leaders' Summit (or L20) for strengthening the capacity of the international system to manage critical global challenges.

Existing mechanisms have not been able to broker solutions for many major international issues and problems. The G20 has been recognized as having many strengths, including diverse membership (northern and southern countries), a manageable size for decision making and a relatively informal structure that encourages open and constructive dialogue. The L20 is not intended as a replacement for the G20, as the G20 is a meeting of Finance Ministers, while the proposed L20 would include the Leaders from member countries.

What makes up the L20 project?

Each of 10 lessons includes a one paragraph abstract, a 2 page background note, a lesson plan/discussion guide, and a list of web based references to provide a comprehensive basis on which to study the topic at issue. The syllabus is pitched at a university level, but is easily adaptable to secondary school. It also contains suggestions to enrich reading and assignments to a graduate level.

The L20 Project accomplishes its work through nonpartisan research and participatory exchanges amongst experts from various sectors.

Project Phases:

Phase 1 (2003-2004) — Results of Phase 1 Exploring the Concept of the G20 at Leaders' Level The first phase of this collaborative project was to explore the case that a G20 Leaders meeting can help resolve issues that are intractable in existing multilateral Ministerial fora or Summits. Among the participants at the conferences there was strong support, both governmental and non-governmental, for the G20 to be transformed into a Summit of Leaders

Phase 2 (2004-2006) — Results of Phase 2 L20-Bridging the Gap in Global Governance The second phase of the project is to research intractable global problems that an L20 might address. These include, but are not limited to: agricultural subsidies / trade, global health and pandemics, terrorism and WMD, the post Kyoto Protocol regime, global financial crises, access to water, and UN reform. This will be done through a series of regional meetings, each focused on a critical global issue.

Phase 3 (2005-2006) — Results of Phase 3

Project Partner: Centre for Global Studies - www.L20.org

We would also like to thank the following organizations for their contributions: