A former U.K. prime minister argues that, even as we pursue aggressive deficit reduction plans, we must get serious about a global deal for jobs.

Gordon Brown, former U.K. premier says that if the world continues on its current path, the 2008 financial crisis will become the first in a series of crises that might cause countries to try to “de-globalize.”

The world is quickly changing and the East Asian countries are taking the lead in production, export, and investment. This could lead to mass unemployment throughout the West. Yet, according to the IMF, if the world worked together, up to 50 million new jobs could be created, eliminating the threat of mass unemployment and further financial crises.

For that, countries must work together to retrain Western workforces and adapt them to the changing reality, Brown argues “There will be no climate-change agreement either, even though nuclear worries are escalating and the case for low-carbon investment becomes more obvious by the day. Nor will there be sufficient global support for the unemployed of the Middle East, North Africa, and sub-Saharan Africa (who together constitute 30 percent of the world’s young), with all the problems of immigration and insecurity that such neglect will unleash.

Global growth will be far lower than it otherwise needs to be, unless the world begins to understand that there is no solution to financial instability, diminished trade, and mass unemployment without a global deal for jobs and justice.”

This is a challenge that the G20 summit can and should take upon itself to carry out.