---
title: "G4 Nations: UNSC Reform Bloc | Model Diplomat"
description: "The G4 Nations—Brazil, Germany, India, Japan—back each other for permanent UNSC seats. Learn how they differ from the rival Uniting for Consensus bloc."
url: "https://modeldiplomat.com/learn/glossary/g4-nations"
---

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Model Diplomat Research Team · Last reviewed June 22, 2026

TL;DR

- The G4 Nations are Brazil, Germany, India, and Japan, four states that mutually support one another's bids for permanent seats on a reformed United Nations Security Council.
- Which four countries make up the G4, and why these four?
- How does the G4 differ from the Uniting for Consensus group?
- What legal hurdle makes G4-style reform so difficult?
- Did the G4 propose that new permanent members hold the veto?

[Civil Service & Diplomatic Exams](https://modeldiplomat.com/learn/civil-services/glossary)Updated June 22, 2026

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## Positions at a glance

### Supporters

Several controversies and edge cases complicate the G4's prospects. The veto question remains unresolved, as the AU rejects any reform that withholds the veto from new permanent members while several P5 states reject extending it. China openly opposes Japan's and India's candidacies, and no P5 member has committed to surrendering the leverage that Charter Article 108 grants it over the entire amendment process. The United States has expressed support for permanent seats for Japan, Germany, and in 2022 and 2024 voiced openness to India and African and Latin American representation, but has consistently opposed expanding the veto. Internal G4 cohesion is also strained by Germany's status as one of three EU members pressing for a seat, which some argue overweights Western Europe relative to underrepresented Africa.

### Opponents

The G4 Nations—Brazil, Germany, India, and Japan—constitute a coordinated diplomatic grouping formed to press for the expansion of the permanent membership of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC). The legal basis for any such expansion lies in Article 23 of the UN Charter, which fixes the Council's composition at five permanent members and ten non-permanent members, and in Article 108, which requires that any amendment to the Charter be adopted by a two-thirds vote of the General Assembly and ratified by two-thirds of UN member states, including all five permanent members (P5). The G4 emerged formally in 2004 against the backdrop of the High-Level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change convened by Secretary-General Kofi Annan, and the subsequent 2005 World Summit, when reform momentum appeared to peak. The four states argued that the 1945 composition no longer reflected contemporary economic weight, demographic scale, or financial contributions to the UN system.

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In September 2024, the G4 foreign ministers met on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York and issued a joint statement urging text-based negotiations on Security Council reform following the Pact for the Future.

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