Brazil hosted the G20 Anti-Corruption Ministerial Meeting (G20 Ministerial Meeting) on October 24, 2024, as part of the G20 Anti-Corruption Working Group (GTAC) agenda. This forum brings together the world’s largest economies. Representatives from various countries, including Portugal, Argentina, France, Switzerland, Australia, Spain, as well as the European Union, and nations from Africa and Asia, attended the meeting.

The outcome of the meeting was the drafting of a Ministerial Declaration, which will be presented to G20 leaders at the upcoming summit in Rio de Janeiro on November 18-19, 2024.  

GTAC Group commitments

The Ministerial Declaration, ratified by the group, underscores the importance of strengthening integrity in both public and private sectors as a central part of “building a just world and a sustainable planet,” the motto of the G20 Brazilian Presidency. During the meeting, three main commitments to fight corruption were made by the Minister of the Brazilian General Comptroller’s Office (Controladoria-Geral da União, CGU), Vinícius Marques de Carvalho (Minister Vinícius de Carvalho).

The first commitment is to ensure active input from civil society to shape the anti-corruption agenda. According to the Brazilian Minister, the effectiveness of any policy depends on the first-hand involvement of individuals in its design and implementation.

The second commitment addressed the importance of the role of the private sector in fighting corruption. Minister Vinícius de Carvalho highlighted that corruption is not an issue exclusively in the public sector and stressed the need to develop public policies that encourage private organizations to adopt anti-corruption practices. He stated: “Organizations play a central role in this process, and the G20 is committed to promoting this change.”

The third commitment, closely linked to sustainable development, focuses on combating corruption in situations of climate disasters. Minister Vinícius de Carvalho emphasized that in emergency situations, large amounts of resources must be mobilized quickly to assist those in need. However, this scenario also increases the risk of misallocation and misuse of public funds. To mitigate these risks, he called for the implementation of an integrity agenda aimed at overseeing the management of financial resources allocated for natural disasters, which are becoming more frequent as a result of climate change.

Furthermore, the G20 countries also endorsed the G20 Anti-Corruption Action Plan 2025-2027, which outlines the group’s priorities and goals for strengthening global anti-corruption efforts. The plan reflects the G20’s ongoing commitment to promoting integrity, combating foreign bribery, and supporting law enforcement.

G20 Brazilian Presidency was praised for its leadership in developing innovative strategies to fight corruption and for its multi-sectorial approach, including civil society, non-governmental organizations, and the private sector. The meeting concluded with a commitment to continue promoting a culture of integrity and justice in the coming years, with the expectation that future G20 presidencies will build on the legacy of international cooperation in the fight against corruption.

Transparency International criticism

Despite all the positive pledges around the commitment to fighting corruption and the praise expressed by G20 member countries during the G20 Ministerial Meeting, the perceptions from outside, particularly from the non-governmental organization Transparency International (TI), were quite different.

According to TI, the Ministerial Declaration was issued failing to recognize that the G20 member countries themselves perpetuate corruption and illicit financial flows. TI openly argues (Anti-corruption: The missing ingredient in the G20’s sustainable development push and G20 leaders must rescue anti-corruption commitments at the Rio Summit) that the G20 has been given a silo treatment and pushing corruption to the margins of the group’s agenda.

TI emphasized how G20 leaders have consistently failed to prioritize anti-corruption efforts, undermining the group’s credibility. For instance, TI recalled the 2022 G20 Bali Summit, at which the group failed to condemn kleptocracy, despite its global consequences – such as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. This failure underscores the G20’s ability to implement meaningful anti-corruption reforms.

Moreover, TI highlighted several key issues that G20 member countries had previously committed to addressing, but which were absent from the Ministerial Declaration. One great example is the need to prevent professional service providers – such as lawyers, real estate agents, and company formation agents, from enabling corruption – a critical issue that has been effectively dropped from the G20’s agenda.

TI also revisited its extensive report on the role of intermediaries in facilitating illicit financial flows out of Africa issued in December 2023. According to the report Loophole Masters: How enablers facilitate illicit financial flows from Africa, 78 cases across 33 African countries were analyzed, implicating politically exposed persons in the diversion of illegal funds and their concealment in offshore accounts.

Regarding Brazil, TI has long criticized the lack of action by the Brazilian government in the fight against corruption, as well as the controversial decisions made by Supreme Court Justice Dias Toffoli in the context of Operation Car Wash. As previously reported, lack of judicial independence and impunity were central to the CPI 2023 analysis on corruption in Latin America, including Brazil. The country has dropped 10 positions in the corruption index of TI in just one year.

Brazil currently scores 36 and ranks 104 (against a score of 38 and ranks 94 in 2022). (For more information, please see our previous, article Controversies in the fight against corruption in Brazil).

TI’s criticism emphasizes the inconsistency between the pledges made by G20 leaders and the ongoing corruption scandals that persist within their own governments. The group’s inability to make meaningful progress in its own fight against corruption reflects a broader trend of impunity and political paralysis that undermines its credibility. G20 must move beyond speechmaking and take actual, measurable actions to combat corruption at all levels – starting with genuine reforms at the domestic level.