As the UK prepares to take on the G20 presidency, it has an opportunity to help shape how the world responds to some of its biggest challenges – from economic instability and inequality to climate change and global development. But with international cooperation under pressure, how much can one presidency really achieve?

Alongside the G20, the Think20 (T20) brings together think tanks and academics from around the world to develop ideas and recommendations for leaders. Led by a coalition of UK institutions, including ODI Global, IPPR, LSE and UCL, the UK’s T20 aims to ensure that independent research and expertise help shape the agenda and translate into meaningful policy action.

Host Sara Pantuliano speaks to three people helping to lead this effort about the UK’s priorities, the role of evidence and expertise in global decision-making, and whether the G20 can still deliver collective solutions to shared problems. What should the UK use its presidency to achieve and what would meaningful progress look like?

Guests

• Sara Pantuliano (host), Chief Executive, ODI Global
• Laura Chappell, Associate Director for International Policy, IPPR
• Hans Peter Lankes, Managing Director, ODI Global
• Lord Nick Stern, Chair, Grantham Research Institute

Related resources

• The G20 digital agenda in transition: advancing four years of global south leadership (Research project, ODI Global)
• Trade and the G20: priorities for the UK Presidency in 2027 (Expert comment, ODI Global)
• Towards a G20 framework for capital flows to EMDEs: informing the UK Presidency (Expert comment, ODI Global)

What does security mean in a world where the nature of conflict is changing – and traditional alliances can no longer be taken for granted?

As Europe faces rising geopolitical tensions, uncertainty over the future of the transatlantic alliance and a growing range of threats beyond conventional warfare, what should a smarter approach to security look like?

From defence spending and deterrence to diplomacy, statecraft and the human costs of conflict, this episode explores how governments can respond to a world where security is no longer simply about preparing for war.

Guests

• Sara Pantuliano (host), Chief Executive, ODI Global
• Sanam Naraghi-Anderlini, Founder and CEO, International Civil Society Action Network
• Sir Laurie Bristow, Former ambassador to Russia, Afghanistan and Azerbaijan, FCO Director of National Security and RUSI Distinguished Fellow.
• Nathalie Tocci, Chair of the ODI Europe Board
  
  

Related resources

• The European Security Strategy is stalled; Europe's counter-terrorism strategy shows a way through
• The security we need: rebalancing military spending for a sustainable and peaceful future
• Think Change episode 66: how is Ukraine redefining global security?

As governments globally face growing pressure to raise revenue, amid concerns about inequality and who will have to contribute more, taxing the wealthiest is back at the centre of the debate both in national tax reforms and in international negotiations.

In this episode, we bring together proposals for a coordinated global minimum tax on billionaires and data and evidence on how much tax they pay. We'll hear perspectives from African tax administrations on how they are strengthening existing national taxes and administrative capacity, and what it might take to tax the wealthiest wherever they are.

The conversation goes beyond the headline debate to ask what taxation of the wealthiest could actually mean for low- and middle-income countries: how do we measure wealth and income, how much tax do the richest pay relative to their income, how wealth taxes interact with existing taxes on employment, capital and inheritance, and what could reforms deliver for countries looking to raise more revenue fairly?

Guests:

• Sara Pantuliano, Chief Executive, ODI Global (Think Change host)
• Hazel Granger, Senior Research Fellow ODI Global
• Ronald Waiswa, Specialist for Applied Research and Statistics, ATAF
• Wouter Leenders, Lecturer in Economics, Kings College London

Resources:

• Making tax systems fairer and more effective (Resource hub)
• Wealth-related taxes in low- and middle-income countries (Publication)
• There are fewer than 4,000 billionaires worldwide, and they now hold a record $15.1 trillion. That’s nearly half of the U.S. economy (Article, Forbes)