T20 Mexico (2012)

Summary

The list of participants and their organisations can be found here+. Also, you can find here a dataset with T20 recommendations.

Model and activities

The first T20 summit in Mexico City was organised around a two-day event with five key sessions held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, following Chatham House rule to guide the discussion.

The participants held two sessions to discuss specific policy issues: food security, commodity price volatility, and green economic growth, and three sessions to discuss strategic partnerships and objectives around the G20.

• The role of the Mexican Presidency of the G20 and its concrete deliverables.
• The role of think tanks in the G20: to jointly identify the next steps for the future, including think tanks’ participation in the next G20 processes, how to remain relevant sources of information for the G20 leaders, and how to strengthen the recently formed international think tank network.
• How to make G20 Summits more effective, fluent and open to dialogue among its leaders.

Key stakeholders from the Mexican government and the G20 engagement groups attended the working meetings.

After the working sessions, on 29 February, COMEXI hosted a public panel on Think20 and the future of G20, attended by embassy officials, media and other key stakeholders. COMEXI also created a social media platform for the initiative (think20.consejomexicano.org). +. In 2012, creating a specific website that consolidated all the information about the process was a rather innovative communications approach. Together with the public event, COMEXI managed to get the public opinion involved by these two efforts.

After the February meetings, Andrés Rozental, as COMEXI’s representative, and Lourdes Aranda, Mexico’s G20 Sherpa, presented the final report to the rest of the G20 Sherpas in a closed working session at the SRE in Mexico City.

Key lessons about the organisation of the T20

1. The Think20 initiative highlighted the importance of involving new and diverse voices in international governance, showing how think tanks can contribute ideas and perspectives that broaden the global policy agenda. It was successful because COMEXI and its partners seized the window of opportunity in the local political context: Mexico’s G20 presidency was interested in promoting multilateral engagement and strengthening its evolving foreign policy. The Mexican government’s support, combined with the urgency of global economic issues, led to solid participation and long-lasting impact.
2. As the first Mexican think tank focused on international affairs, COMEXI’s involvement in organising Think20 exemplified its ability to mobilise networks to influence global policy discussions, primarily through international partnerships. The leadership of COMEXI’s President, Ambassadors Enrique Berruga and Andrés Rozental, was crucial in pushing the Think20 initiative. Despite being a relatively young institution, COMEXI’s expertise and strategic alliances with other think tanks, such as the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI) in Canada, enhanced the influence and reach of the event. COMEXI’s diverse network involving former Mexican ministers, trade negotiators, opinion leaders and other high-level figures allowed the initiative to gain credibility and convene a diverse and notable group of stakeholders.
3. From a communications perspective, COMEXI pioneered the use of social media in international policy discourse by implementing a comprehensive strategy during the Think20 Summit, making #Think20 a trending topic and expanding global engagement. Its use of platforms like Twitter and YouTube, as well as partnering with CISCO to broadcast the event, helped extend the impact of Think20 globally and encouraged open public discourse. Also, hosting public events and making outcomes accessible promoted transparency and broadened the impact of the discussions held during the summit.
4. Finally, T20 Mexico established a model for the future. The success of the first Think20 set a precedent for future G20 Summits, with subsequent hosts continuing to organise Think20 meetings.

Additional resources 

• Think 20 Mexico: Participants notes

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