Pan African Digital Rights and Inclusion Advocacy organisation, Paradigm Initiative has welcomed the European Commission’s response to the Shadow C20 Coalition’s Civil Society Priorities for G20 action on artificial intelligence, which highlights the exclusion of civil society and specifies five pillars for AI governance. In a letter to the global coordinator of the Shadow C20 Coalition, the European Commission expressed deep regret over the exclusion of civil society from the 2026 G20 process, recognising that public participation is essential to the legitimacy of international policymaking. This recognition underscores the role of global civil society in shaping the future of AI governance.
In 2026, Paradigm Initiative joined the Shadow C20 Coalition, a global coalition working to ensure the public is represented when world leaders set the agenda. The coalition seeks to ensure the public has a voice at this year's G20. Since March this year, the Shadow C20 Coalition has come together to draft and publish a civil society statement, with broad endorsements. Ahead of the 2026 Leaders' Summit, which is scheduled to take place on December 14-15, 2026, in Miami, Florida, in the United States of America. The Summit will produce commitments governments cite for years, and the commitments should reflect the public interest.
For the first time since the C20 was established, there is no structured mechanism at the G20 for the public to be heard. The 2026 G20 presidency eliminated civil society engagement for the first time since 2013. Since 2013, the Civil 20 has given the public a formal voice in G20 outcomes. The C20-shaped policy on issues ranging from vaccine access and clean energy to AI oversight and the protection of children online. By 2025, it represented over 3,000 organisations worldwide. In 2026, the G20 presidency eliminated all civil society engagement groups. The only group retained is the Business 20. For the first time since the C20 was established, there is no structured mechanism for the public to be heard.
The coalition was launched by the Center for AI and Digital Policy (CAIDP) in cooperation with other global NGOs who have participated in the C20 process, including Paradigm Initiative, Aapti Institute, Sustainable Global Impact, International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), The PRAKARSA, Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom, Accountability Lab, Paradigm Initiative, Data Privacy Brasil, Publish What You Pay (PWYP) Indonesia, INFID, FCGH Alliance, Indonesia for Global Justice, Institute for Essential Services Reform (IESR) and Encode AI.
