South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa delivers remarks during a working dinner for invited African heads of state and government at the Sandton Convention Centre in Sandton on November 21, 2025, ahead of the G20 leaders’ Summit. (Photo by EMMANUEL CROSET / AFP via Getty Images)
Emmanuel Croset | Afp | Getty Images
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, host of this weekend’s gathering of Group of 20 leaders, said on Saturday there was “overwhelming consensus” for a summit declaration despite the United States boycotting the event.
G20 envoys drew up a draft leaders’ declaration on Friday without U.S. input, four sources familiar with the matter said, in a surprise move that a senior White House official described as “shameful”.
One of those sources confirmed that the draft made references to climate change, despite objections from the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump, who doubts the scientific consensus that warming is caused by human activities.
In opening remarks to the Johannesburg summit, Ramaphosa said: “There’s been overwhelming consensus and agreement that one of the other tasks we should undertake right at the beginning is to … adopt our declaration.”
He thanked all delegations who had worked together with South Africa “in good faith to produce a worthy G20 outcome document”.
“We should not allow anything to diminish the value, the stature and the impact of the first African G20 presidency,” he continued.
Trump rejects South Africa’s G20 agenda
Trump said U.S. officials would not attend the summit because of allegations, widely discredited, that the host country’s Black majority government persecutes its white minority.
The U.S. president has also rejected the host nation’s agenda of promoting solidarity and helping developing nations adapt to weather disasters, transition to clean energy and cut their excessive debt costs.
The boycott had put a dampener on Ramaphosa’s plans to trumpet South Africa’s role in promoting multilateral diplomacy, but some analysts suggested it might be a benefit, if other members embrace the summit’s agenda and make headway on a substantive declaration.
It was not clear what concessions had to be made on the language to reach agreement on a draft declaration.
The United States had objected to any mention of climate or renewable energy in the discussion, and some other members are often reticent about it.
Three out of four of South Africa’s planned top agenda items – preparing for climate-induced weather disasters, financing the transition to green energy, and ensuring the rush for critical minerals benefits producers – are closely linked to climate change.
The fourth is about a more equitable system of borrowing for poor countries.
The United States will host the G20 in 2026 and Ramaphosa said he would have to hand over the rotating presidency to an “empty chair”. The South African presidency has rejected a U.S. offer to send the U.S. charge d’affaires for the G20 handover.
