Brazil led the way. Now the UK should get behind the assault on hunger and poverty

Brazil’s president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, speaking at the Global Alliance against Hunger in Rio de Janeiro. Photograph: Andre Coelho/EPA

Last week the Brazilian president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, shattered the mould of G20 meetings. In using the annual summit as a launchpad for a new effort to tackle hunger and extreme poverty, he has provided the world with a chance – a last chance – to breathe new life into a moribund sustainable development goal (SDG) agenda. He has handed the G20 a cause that could halt its slide into irrelevance.

For the UK, the creation of the Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty represents an opportunity to restore a deeply tarnished reputation on international development.