Berlin: As anti-globalisation activists took to the streets in Hamburg ahead of this week's G20 summit, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said leaders will have to focus on sustainable and inclusive economic growth rather than their own prosperity.
In her weekly podcast, Dr Merkel said this year's G20 summit will delve into issues championed by protesters such as distribution of wealth and consumption of resources - alongside related issues like climate change, free markets, consumer protection and upholding social standards.
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Anti-G20 protests begin in Hamburg
Demonstrators take to the streets and the waterways in Hamburg to protest against the G20 summit taking place July 7th and 8th.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull will be attending the summit.
Hamburg police said 10,000 demonstrators marched peacefully in the rain in Hamburg on Sunday in a prelude to the July 7-8 gathering, where 21,000 police from across Germany will protect the meetings of the world's 20 largest economies.
![People protest against the gathering of European leaders on the upcoming G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170703204926im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/x/3/8/2/a/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gx382i.png/1499094990533.jpg)
It was the first of 30 registered demonstrations this week. Some carried banners reading "Fight poverty", "stop coal" and "Planet earth first".
German authorities are bracing for trouble, worried the protests could turn violent as they did outside a G8 summit in Genoa, Italy, in 2001, when one person was shot dead and hundreds injured.
The German Federal Crime Office warned that violent G20 opponents could carry out arson and sabotage at infrastructure targets such as the Hamburg harbour and airport, the Welt am Sonntag newspaper said.
"It's not only going to be about [economic] growth but rather sustainable growth," Dr Merkel said.
![Participants of the protest against the G20 summit demonstrate on an inflatable boat wearing masks with the likeness of ...](http://web.archive.org./web/20170703204926im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/x/3/8/2/c/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gx382i.png/1499094990533.jpg)
"We've got to have a 'win-win' situation for everyone. The issues obviously revolve around: how do we achieve inclusive or sustainable growth?"
Dr Merkel, seeking a fourth term in a September 24 election, outlined the issues as: "What are we doing with our resources? What are the rules for distribution of wealth? How many people are taking part? And how many countries are able to profit from that?
![Activsts of the refugee support group SeaWatch attach a poster 'Build bridges not walls' to a bridge over the river Elbe ...](http://web.archive.org./web/20170703204926im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/x/0/u/g/j/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gx382i.png/1499094990533.jpg)
"If we simply try to carry on as we have in the past, the worldwide developments will definitely not be sustainable and inclusive," she said.
"We need the climate protection agreement, open markets and improved trade agreements in which consumer protection, social and environmental standards are upheld."
![Participants of protest against the G20 summit demonstrate with tents for the construction of camps.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170703204926im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/x/3/8/2/8/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gx382i.png/1499094990533.jpg)
In a speech to parliament last week, Dr Merkel promised to fight for free trade and press on with multilateral efforts to combat climate change at the summit, challenging the "America First" policies of US President Donald Trump.
Officials confirmed that Dr Merkel had sent her top economic adviser Lars-Hendrik Roeller to Washington for talks with US officials, in a last-ditch bid to overcome differences on trade and climate change.
![Participants of the demonstration 'G20 Protest Wave' gather in front of the city hall in Hamburg.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170703204926im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/x/3/8/2/9/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gx382i.png/1499094990533.jpg)
The German government on Friday denied a media report which said the United States had signalled it could discontinue multilateral cooperation on financial market regulation and tax havens ahead of the summit.
"Reports that the federal government had indications that the administration of President Donald Trump could terminate cooperation in the fight against tax havens and tax dumping and withdraw from the agreements on better regulation and control of financial markets are not correct," a government spokeswoman said.
![Participants of a protest against the G20 summit demonstrate in front of a stage in Hamburg.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170703204926im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/x/3/8/2/b/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gx382i.png/1499094990533.jpg)
The German news magazine Der Spiegel reported, without citing its sources, that the Trump administration had signalled it could discontinue multilateral cooperation on financial market regulation and tax havens.
The magazine also said that Washington was threatening to slap tariffs on dozens of European products if Europe did not open its market to US hormone-fed meat.
G20 countries began coordinating on financial regulation and tax matters after the global financial crisis of 2008-9.
The Trump administration is also threatening punitive trade measures on steel ahead of the summit.
The proposal to restrict imports of steel and aluminium for national security reasons has come under fire at the World Trade Organisation, with China, the European Union, Brazil, Australia, Taiwan and Russia raising concerns.
China and the EU both told the WTO's Goods Council that the "section 232" tariffs could not be justified on national security grounds, a trade official who attended the meeting said, while others were concerned about a potential risk to the world trading system itself.
The Trump administration, which is studying the case for the tariffs, has delayed publication of the hotly anticipated study until after the President has spoken with G20 leaders in Germany next week, an administration official said on Thursday.
Reuters