G4 Nations

The G4 nations comprising Brazil, Germany, India, and Japan are four countries which support each other’s bids for permanent seats on the United Nations Security Council. Unlike the G7, where the common denominator is the economy and long-term political motives, the G4's primary aim is the permanent member seats on the Security Council. Each of these four countries have figured among the elected non-permanent members of the council since the UN's establishment. Their economic and political influence has grown significantly in the last decades, reaching a scope comparable to the permanent members (P5). However, the G4's bids are often opposed by Uniting for Consensus movement, and particularly their economic competitors or political rivals.

1. G4 nations
The G4 nations comprising Brazil, Germany, India, and Japan are four countries which support
each other’s bids for permanent seats on the United Nations Security Council. Unlike the G7,
where the common denominator is the economy and long-term political motives, the G4's
primary aim is the permanent member seats on the Security Council. Each of these four countries
have figured among the elected non-permanent members of the council since the UN's
establishment. Their economic and political influence has grown significantly in the last decades,
reaching a scope comparable to the permanent members (P5). However, the G4's bids are often
opposed by Uniting for Consensus movement, and particularly their economic competitors or
political rivals.
Background
The UN currently has five permanent members with veto powers in the Security Council: the
People's Republic of China, France, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom, and the United
States. The G4 nations are regularly elected to two-year terms on the Security Council as non-
permanent members by their respective regional groups: in the 24-year period from 1987 to
2010, Japan was elected for five terms, Brazil for five terms, Germany for four terms and India
for two terms. Cumulatively, the G4 has spent 64 years on the Security Council since the UN's
inception, with each country serving at least a decade. By comparison, the three permanent
members of the Security Council who have maintained their seats since the UN's founding
(France, the U.K., and the U.S.) have each accrued 69 years of membership. The People's
Republic of China has held its permanent seat for 43 years, since it replaced the Republic of
China in 1971, and the Russian Federation has held its permanent seat for 23 years, since it
replaced the Soviet Union in 1991.
Quick Comparison of G4 and P5 Members

Population GDP
1

UN
funding
2

Defense
budget
1

Active
military
Nuclear
arsenal
Brazil G4
190,732,694
(5th)
$1,953
(8th)
2.934%
(10th)
$35.4
(10th)
327,710
(14th)
NO
Germany G4
82,329,758
(16th)
$3,860
(4th)
7.141%
(3rd)
$46.7
(9th)
250,613
(22nd)
NO
3

India G4
1,210,193,422
(2nd)
$2,350
(7th)
0.534%
(27th)
$46.8
(7th)
1,745,000
(2nd)
YES

2. According to the IMF, all countries in the current "P5" members of the Security Council and the
G4 currently rank among the 10 economies with the highest nominal GDP in the world, both
regarding the calculation of GDP by Purchasing Power Parity, and nominal GDP, with Italy
being the only non P5 or G4 member among them. They also account for 9 of the world's ten
largest defense budgets, with Saudi Arabia being the only non P5 or G4 member among them. In
both scenarios, the P5 and G4 countries combined account for over 60% of the world's GDP, and
around half of the world's total population.
Opposition
There has been discontent among the present permanent members regarding the inclusion of
controversial nations or countries not supported by them. For instance, Japan's bid is heavily
opposed by the People's Republic of China and South Korea, who believes that Japan needs to
atone further for its war crimes in World War II. At the same time Japan finds strong support
from the United States and the United Kingdom.
Under the leadership of Italy, countries that strongly oppose the G4 countries' bids have formed
the Uniting for Consensus movement, or the Coffee Club, composed mainly of regional powers
that oppose the rise of some nearby country to permanent member status. In East Asia, both
China and South Korea heavily oppose Japan's bid. In Latin America, Colombia, Argentina and
Mexico are opposing a seat for Brazil. In South Asia, Pakistan is opposing India's bid, all the
members of P5 have supported India's bids for permanent seat on the UNSC but China had
Japan G4
128,056,026
(10th)
$4,616
(3rd)
10.833%
(2nd)
$59.3
(6th)
230,300
(24th)
NO
China P5
1,347,338,352
(1st)
$10,380
(2nd)
5.148%
(6th)
$143.0
(2nd)
2,285,000
(1st)
YES
France P5 65,821,885 (21st)
$2,847
(6th)
5.593%
(4th)
$62.5
(5th)
352,771
(13th)
YES
Russia P5
143,056,383
(9th)
$1,857
(10th)
2.438%
(11th)
$71.9
(3rd)
1,027,000
(5th)
YES
United
Kingdom
P5
63,047,162
(22nd)
$2,945
(5th)
5.179%
(5th)
$62.7
(4th)
197,780
(26th)
YES
United
States
P5
312,913,872
(3rd)
$17,419
(1st)
22.00%
(1st)
$711.0
(1st)
1,458,219
(3rd)
YES
1
$US billions
2
Percent contributed to total UN budget
3
Takes part in NATO nuclear weapons
sharing agreement

3. previously implied that it is only ready to support India's bid for a permanent seat on United
Nations Security Council if India did not associate its bid with Japan.
Activity
The G4 suggested that two African nations, in addition to themselves, be included in the
enlarged UNSC. In several conferences during the summer of 2005, the African Union was
unable to agree on two nominees: Egypt, Nigeria and South Africa all lay claim to a permanent
African UNSC seat.
A UN General Assembly in September 2005 marked the 60th anniversary of the UN and the
members were to decide on a number of necessary reforms—including the enlarged SC.
However the unwillingness to find a negotiable position stopped even the most urgent reforms;
the September 2005 General Assembly was a setback for the UN.
]

The G4 retain their goal of permanent UNSC membership for all four nations (plus two African
nations). In January 2006, Japan announced it would not support putting the G4 resolution back
on the table, not to interfere with any effort by the African Union to unite behind a single plan.
And meanwhile, Japan's continuing relations with the G4 were not mutually exclusive.
G4 issued joint statement in February 12, 2011, in which their foreign ministers agreed to seek
concrete outcome in the current session of the UN General Assembly

G-4 Directors General for UN Affairs Meeting on 11 February and Outreach Seminar on
UNSC Reform on 12 February 2014 in New Delhi
1. The Directors General (DGs) of UN Affairs of the G-4 (Brazil, Germany, India and
Japan) met in New Delhi on 11 February 2014 to exchange views on Security Council
Reform. The last such meeting took place in New York on the sidelines of the 68th UN
General Assembly on 26 September 2013.
2. It may be recalled that the G-4 Foreign Ministers Meeting in New York on 26 September
2013 had stressed the need to intensify efforts to translate, at the latest by 2015, the
commitments made in the Outcome Document of the 2005 World Summit into concrete
outcomes. Following up on the same, the G-4 DG's discussed the current state of play on
UNSC reforms in New York as well as the way forward with a view to move the process
urgently to text-based intergovernmental negotiations. They underlined the broad support
that exists among UN member states for expansion of the UNSC in both permanent and
non-permanent categories in order to better reflect the geopolitical realities of the 21st
century as well as the need to make the Council more representative, efficient and
transparent. They stressed that only through such reforms can the UNSC enhance its
effectiveness and credibility as well as the legitimacy of its decisions. The G-4 countries
reiterated their commitments as aspiring new permanent members of the UN Security
Council, as well as their support for each other’s candidatures. They also reaffirmed their

4. view of the importance of developing countries, in particular Africa, to be represented in
both the permanent and non-permanent categories of an enlarged Council.
3. The G-4 DG's also called on Hon’ble External Affairs Minister of India on 12 February
2014 and reported the progress on their discussions and the way forward.
4. Separately, following from G-4 Foreign Ministers directive on the need for greater
involvement of civil society, the media and academia in the discussions about the reform
of the Security Council, a one day Outreach Seminar on "United Nations Security
Council Reform: Perspectives and Prospects” was organised by the Institute for Defence
Studies and Analyses and Ministry of External Affairs on 12 February 2014.
5. Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh delivered the key note address and underscored the need
for the reform of the Security Council in order to make its archaic composition more
reflective of the vastly expanded membership of the UN. The daylong Seminar also
witnessed active participation of leading scholars, media and several members from the
diplomatic corps based in New Delhi.
6. The G-4 DGs agreed to continue their discussions leading up to the 2015 Summit, with
Japan offering to host the next meeting in Tokyo.