Preparing for a New G20 Alignment

Prof. Dennis J. Snower | 26 March 2026

The G20 is approaching a turning point. Established in the aftermath of financial crises as a forum for macroeconomic coordination, it has gradually expanded into a central body for addressing global challenges – from pandemics to climate change and digital transformation. Yet the institutional logic that sustained its earlier effectiveness – consensus-based cooperation among major economies – is increasingly under strain. Diverging geopolitical interests, asymmetric development priorities, and the growing complexity of global risks are rendering the traditional model insufficient.

By the time of the UK G20 Presidency in 2027, these tensions are likely to crystallise. The UK will inherit a forum shaped by successive Global South Presidencies that elevated development, inequality, and climate finance, followed by a US Presidency expected to reassert strategic and technological priorities. The result is not merely a crowded agenda, but a structurally different policy environment. Preparing for this moment requires what may be termed a ‘New G20 Alignment’.

Read the full article published for VoxEU.

About the Author

Dennis J. Snower is Co-President of The New Alignment and Honorary Professor at the Institute for Global Prosperity, University College London. He is the Founding President and a Fellow of the Global Solutions Initiative, Berlin; Professorial Fellow at the Institute for New Economic Thinking, Oxford University; Non-resident Fellow at Brookings. Previously, he was Program Chair at The New Institute, President of the Kiel Institute for the World Economy, and Professor of Economics at the Christian-Albrechts-University of Kiel. Dennis J. Snower earned a BA and MA from New College, Oxford University, an MA and a PhD at Princeton University. He is an expert on labor economics, socio-economics, public policy and inflation-unemployment tradeoffs. He is currently working on a new paradigm for economics with David Sloan Wilson. He is the author of a major report on digital governance with reform with Paul Twomey.