Second Question: How united is the G77?

According to many news accounts and delegates from both the G77 and other countries, the climate change meetings in Copenhagen in December last year were not a success for the G77 as a group. While in Kyoto and Bali, the G77 was able to present a strong, common position, this was clearly not the case in Copenhagen. Some say that this is due to the fact that the BASIC countries thought it in their interest to negotiate an outcome without fully engaging the rest of the G77. Also, Sudan (chairing the G77 in 2009)and South Africa apparently did not see eye to eye in Copenhagen as well. Some sources suggest that this divide about climate change is ongoing. Would you like to comment?

First Question for Discussion

In the book United Nations Politics - International Organization in a Divided World (Puchala et al, 2007), the authors contend that the voting power of the G77 at the UN General Assembly does not translate into political power. Do you agree?

Group of 77 + China

The Center for UN Reform is currently working on a book about the Group of 77, to be published in October 2010. The publication will analyze the successes and failures of the G77 - from its own perspectives as well as others'.

We welcome contributions from those interested in this topic while in the process of researching for this book. This page will be open to comments and we will regularly post questions for readers to respond to. We reserve the right to accept comments based on the following criteria: all comments must be respectful and readers should refrain from making ad hominem attacks. Also, we ask readers to be succinct and stay on topic. We allow for readers to post comments anonymously, but prefer to be able to see who people are and where they come from.

We look forward to hearing your thoughts and thank you for participating in a hopefully interesting exchange of ideas. If you wish to comment to us in person, you are welcome to do so by emailing Jakob Lund (j.lund@centerforunreform.org) or Lydia Swart (lydiaswart@centerforunreform.org).