UK’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer (C front) poses with leaders during a group photo at the end of the first session of the G20 Leaders’ Meeting in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on November 18, 2024.
| Photo Credit: AFP

President Joe Biden inadvertently was a missing man in the traditional photo of world leaders at the final Group of 20 summit of his presidency on Monday (November 18, 2024), a photo-shoot fail that U.S. officials attributed to timing.

Instead, Biden and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau strolled up after photographers had already taken the official picture, as other world leaders milled about chatting after having smiled and raised linked hands for the photo.

The timing left Chinese President Xi Jinping front and center among the rows of leaders posed against blue skies and blue water in Rio de Janeiro.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stood, less visible, in a back row.

A senior Biden administration official, who was not authorized to comment publicly, said Mr. Biden and other leaders missed the photo because of “logistical issues.” Mr. Biden had intended to be part of the photo, but it occurred earlier than scheduled.

Mr. Biden and Mr. Trudeau arrived together at the designated spot for the photo, standing and looking about for a time. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni also did not join in the group photo, a set piece of such summits.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi emplanes for Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to attend the G20 Summit, in Nigeria, Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024.
| Photo Credit: PTI

Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Brazil on Monday (November 18, 2024) on the second leg of his three-nation visit, during which he will attend the G20 Summit.

Mr. Modi arrived in the South American country after wrapping up a “productive” visit to Nigeria, where he held bilateral talks with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and interacted with the Indian community.

Announcing Modi’s arrival in Brazil, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a post on X, “Prime Minister Narendra Modi lands in the vibrant city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to attend the G20 Brazil Summit.” It also shared pictures of Modi’s welcome at the airport.

Announcing his arrival, Mr. Modi said in a post on his official X handle, “Landed in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to take part in the G20 Summit. I look forward to the summit deliberations and fruitful talks with various world leaders.” In Brazil, he will attend the 19th G20 Summit as a member of the Troika. India is part of the G20 Troika along with Brazil and South Africa.

Alongside Mr. Modi, Chinese President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart Joe Biden will be among the leaders attending the Rio de Janeiro summit on November 18-19.

In the third and final leg of his trip, Mr. Modi will visit Guyana from November 19 to 21 at the invitation of President Mohamed Irfaan Ali. It will be the first-ever visit of an Indian prime minister to Guyana in more than 50 years.

Mr. Modi said in his departure statement on Saturday (November 16, 2024), “This year, Brazil has built upon India’s legacy. I look forward to meaningful discussions in keeping with our vision of ‘One Earth, One Family, One Future’. I will also use the opportunity to exchange views on furthering bilateral cooperation with several other leaders.” Induction of the 55-nation African Union as a permanent member of the G20 and managing to produce a leaders’ declaration overcoming deep divisions over the Ukraine conflict were seen as major milestones of India’s G20 presidency last year.

Brazilian Economy Minister Fernando Haddad attends a press conference to review the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Friday, July 26, 2024.
| Photo Credit: AP

Finance Ministers from leading rich and developing nations agreed Friday to strive toward effectively taxing the super-rich, a joint ministerial declaration said.

“With full respect to tax sovereignty, we will seek to engage cooperatively to ensure that ultra-high-net-worth individuals are effectively taxed,” the declaration said after the two-day meeting in Rio de Janeiro.

Brazil has made a proposal to impose a 2% minimum tax on billionaires a top priority of its presidency of the Group of 20, ahead of the Nov. 18-19 summit in Rio.

While the final declaration stops short of agreeing on a specific global tax, Brazilian Finance Minister Fernando Haddad nevertheless called it a “significant step forward.”

“We were always optimistic about this result, but it really exceeded our initial expectations,” Mr. Haddad told reporters.

Brazil’s proposal to tax billionaires has divided G20 nations. France, Spain and South Africa have expressed support, while the U.S. is against.

“Tax policy is very difficult to coordinate globally, and we don’t see a need or really think it’s desirable to try to negotiate a global agreement on that,” U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told journalists Thursday.

Governments fear the super-rich would transfer their money to tax havens if a country individually adopted such a tax, said economist Rogério Studart, a senior fellow at the Brazilian Center for International Relations think tank.

“When action is done collectively, everyone wins. When there is fragmentation, many lose,” Mr. Studart said.

The richest 1% have amassed $42 trillion in new wealth over the past decade, nearly 36 times more than the entire bottom 50% of the world’s population, according to an Oxfam analysis released Thursday ahead of the Finance Ministers’ meeting.

Billionaires currently pay the equivalent of 0.3% of their wealth in taxes, according to a report by Gabriel Zucman, commissioned by Brazil. A 2% tax would raise $200 billion to $250 billion per year globally from about 3,000 individuals, money that could fund public services such as education and health care as well as the fight against climate change, the report said.

Mr. Zucman, who is the founding director of the Paris-based EU Tax Observatory, celebrated the outcome of the finance ministers’ meeting.

“For the first time in history, there is now a consensus among G20 countries that the way we tax the super-rich must be fixed, and a commitment to work together for this. It’s an important step in the right direction,” he said in a statement.

NGOs also welcomed the declaration, while encouraging further action at the G20 summit in November.

Extreme weather events made more likely by climate change are expected to cost “trillions of dollars every year and it is outrageous to expect that the regular taxpayer should pay for it,” Camila Jardim, an international politics specialist with Greenpeace Brazil, said in a statement.

Brazil has put inequality, poverty and hunger at the heart of its presidency of the G20. President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva defended the need for increased taxation of the world’s richest in Rio on Wednesday when he unveiled plans for a global alliance against hunger and poverty.

Brazil is also pushing for changes in global governance institutions and advocating for a sustainable energy transition.

On the sidelines of the discussions around taxation, Haddad and Yellen on Friday announced the launch of a climate partnership between Brazil’s Ministry of Finance and the U.S. Treasury.

It will seek “to address today’s most pressing environmental challenges and strengthen the region’s green economy,” Yellen said, citing efforts to bolster clean energy supply chains and improve the integrity and effectiveness of the voluntary carbon market.