The 2009 G20 Pittsburgh Summit was the third meeting of the G20 heads of state and heads of government, held in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States, to discuss financial markets and the world economy.
The G20 is the premier forum for discussing, planning and monitoring international economic
The fall 2009 G20 summit was held at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States, on September 24–25, 2009. Announced shortly after the April 2009 G20 London summit, U.S. President Barack Obama volunteered to host this summit, initially planning to hold it in New York City and coordinating it with the opening of the United Nations General Assembly. Due to coordination issues, however, the Obama Administration announced a change of venue on May 28, 2009 to Pittsburgh in order to highlight the city's economic recovery following the collapse of the city's manufacturing sector during the latter half of the 20th century. In response to the Global credit crisis, a G20 summit in one year was proposed shortly after the London summit in April 2009.
Among the issues discussed was a proposal to radically reform the International Monetary Fund (IMF). French President Nicolas Sarkozy also suggested that there would be an evaluation of measures already taken.
The primary venue of the summit was the David L. Lawrence Convention Center, which was at one point the largest Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design-certified building in the world. A working dinner for world leaders was held at the Phipps Conservatory & Botanical Gardens, chosen to highlight its environmentally friendly features including an earth-sheltered welcome center and a Tropical Forest Conservatory described as the world's most energy efficient. Other venues used around the city include The Andy Warhol Museum, the Pittsburgh High School for the Creative and Performing Arts and Rosemont, the working farm of Teresa Heinz Kerry.
In the weeks leading up to the conference, many measures were taken to prepare Pittsburgh for the conference. Many streets in Downtown Pittsburgh were re-paved and a pre-season National Hockey League hockey game for the Pittsburgh Penguins at nearby Mellon Arena was rescheduled. During the week of the G20, many streets were closed, and traffic patterns were adjusted. Many public schools, universities and nearby businesses were closed, canceling classes or working remotely for the duration of the conference. Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl also attempted to alleviate problems by meeting beforehand with some of the groups expected to protest during the event.
Thousands of protesters were expected during the week of the Summit, which was classified as a National Special Security Event. Security was coordinated by the United States Secret Service, working in conjunction with the Pittsburgh Police. It is estimated that 4,000 police officers were requested, and the city only had 900 police officers at the time of the event. The Pennsylvania State Police committed more than 1,000 officers for the downtown event, including SWAT, helicopter, mounted, undercover, bicycle and motorcycle officers. Allegheny County had 75 officers specifically trained by and embedded into the Pittsburgh Police Bureau for the event since June. New York City and Baltimore also committed some officers, as well as Pittsburgh suburbs. Some officers from Chicago traveled to assist, taking vacation days from their department. All officers, regardless of department, were under the command of the Secret Service for the event days.
Chinook and Black Hawk helicopters, armored Humvees and crews of U.S. Army soldiers, as well as 10 25-foot boats with M240 machine guns from the Coast Guard, were on hand in the event of large-scale violent protests or a terrorist attack.
G20 leaders began gathering in Pittsburgh on September 24, 2009. On the evening of September 24, the leaders attended a reception at Phipps Conservatory in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh.
The Summit proper began on the morning of September 25 at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center, downtown.
The following participants of the Pittsburgh summit represented the core members of the G20, which includes 19 countries and the European Union which is represented by its two governing bodies, the European Council and the European Commission.
After numerous denials of permits for groups such as Code Pink and Three Rivers Climate Convergence to assemble peaceful demonstrations, the ACLU of Pennsylvania successfully sued to force the city of Pittsburgh to allow demonstrations around the G20 Summit.
Participants in the protests surrounding the summit included peace, environmental, labor and social justice organizations.
The first of the alternate events was a Peoples' Summit, involving an all-day session of speakers, panels and workshops on September 19, the Saturday before the G20 Summit, drawing about 500 participants, and continuing on Monday and Tuesday evenings, each drawing between 100 and 200. The Peoples' Summit included outright opponents of the G20 (such as radical historian Howard Zinn, who addressed the gathering via special video) as well as some who hoped to influence it in what they considered to be "progressive" directions. The Pittsburgh City Council proclaimed "that the Council of the City of Pittsburgh does hereby commend the Peoples' Summit, all associated institutions and organizations, and the citizen volunteers who worked tirelessly to make it a success. Their outstanding efforts are certain to create a greater understanding about the challenges we face, the solutions we should explore and the social dialogue that is necessary for the realization of a better world. Furthermore, the citizens of our region are encouraged to seize the opportunity to participate in this significant and historic event." The Peoples' Summit itself advanced some of the themes that surfaced in protests when the G20 Summit actually met: "We envision a world in which basic rights—freedom of expression, freedom of thought and religion, freedom from fear, and freedom from want—are enjoyed by all people. This is not the reality of our world today. Yet, in our diversity and plurality of orientations, inspired by mutual respect and the spirit of solidarity, we share the conviction that another world is possible."
This was followed by a number of tent cities, demonstrations and other summits. There was also an alternative conference on Tuesday called the Freedom Conference 2009, stressing conservative grassroots solutions and free-market approaches.
At around 10:15 a.m. on Wednesday, September 23, Greenpeace activists hung a banner, warning of the dangers of increased CO2 emissions, from the deck of the West End Bridge facing downtown Pittsburgh over the Ohio River. While traffic was held up for a period, all eight activists were placed under arrest after surrendering peacefully.
On Thursday, September 24, the Pittsburgh G20 Resistance Project held a march and a day of direct action at Arsenal Park in the city's Lawrenceville neighborhood. Police fired pepper spray at a crowd of an estimated 500 demonstrators to disperse a protest march a few hours before the start of the Summit.
Police also used a Long Range Acoustic Device (LRAD) to remove protesters from an area after warning them several times to disperse. This was believed by city officials to be the first time that an LRAD had been used to disperse protesters within the United States. Since then, LRADs have been used to disperse crowds on several occasions.