One of the largest and most important gatherings of world leaders outside the U.N. General Assembly — the Group of 20 Leaders' Summit — arrives in Japan for the first time ever this week, bringing with it over 30 presidents, prime ministers and leaders from international organizations.
Some 30,000 participants, including U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, are expected to come to Osaka for the two-day meeting from Friday. Under the G20 process, Japan, as host nation, sets the agenda for discussions on specific economic and financial issues, as well as social and environmental matters that will range this year from health and women's empowerment to climate change and dealing with marine plastic waste.
The impetus for the current G20 Summit was the global financial meltdown in 2008, when the leaders gathered to discuss how to prevent a similar crisis from happening again. And over the course of the years, the agenda has been broadened to include a more wide-ranging set of concerns and topics.