South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa delivers remarks during a moving meal for invited African heads of authorities and authorities astatine the Sandton Convention Centre successful Sandton connected November 21, 2025, up of the G20 leaders' Summit. (Photo by EMMANUEL CROSET / AFP via Getty Images)
Emmanuel Croset | Afp | Getty Images
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, big of this weekend's gathering of Group of 20 leaders, said connected Saturday determination was "overwhelming consensus" for a acme declaration contempt the United States boycotting the event.
G20 envoys drew up a draught leaders' declaration connected Friday without U.S. input, 4 sources acquainted with the substance said, successful a astonishment determination that a elder White House authoritative described arsenic "shameful".
One of those sources confirmed that the draught made references to clime change, contempt objections from the medication of U.S. President Donald Trump, who doubts the technological statement that warming is caused by quality activities.
In opening remarks to the Johannesburg summit, Ramaphosa said: "There's been overwhelming statement and statement that 1 of the different tasks we should undertake close astatine the opening is to ... follow our declaration."
He thanked each delegations who had worked unneurotic with South Africa "in bully religion to nutrient a worthy G20 result document".
"We should not let thing to diminish the value, the stature and the interaction of the archetypal African G20 presidency," helium continued.
Trump rejects South Africa's G20 docket
Trump said U.S. officials would not be the acme due to the fact that of allegations, wide discredited, that the big country's Black bulk authorities persecutes its achromatic minority.
The U.S. president has besides rejected the big nation's docket of promoting solidarity and helping processing nations accommodate to upwind disasters, modulation to cleanable vigor and chopped their excessive indebtedness costs.
The boycott had enactment a dampener connected Ramaphosa's plans to trumpet South Africa's relation successful promoting multilateral diplomacy, but immoderate analysts suggested it mightiness beryllium a benefit, if different members clasp the summit's docket and marque headway connected a substantive declaration.
It was not wide what concessions had to beryllium made connected the connection to scope statement connected a draught declaration.
The United States had objected to immoderate notation of clime oregon renewable vigor successful the discussion, and immoderate different members are often reticent astir it.
Three retired of 4 of South Africa's planned apical docket items - preparing for climate-induced upwind disasters, financing the modulation to greenish energy, and ensuring the unreserved for captious minerals benefits producers - are intimately linked to clime change.
The 4th is astir a much equitable strategy of borrowing for mediocre countries.
The United States volition big the G20 successful 2026 and Ramaphosa said helium would person to manus implicit the rotating presidency to an "empty chair". The South African presidency has rejected a U.S. connection to nonstop the U.S. complaint d'affaires for the G20 handover.
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