G20 summit in South Africa adopts declaration despite boycott and opposition from the United States

World leaders from the Group of 20 rich and developing countries broke with tradition and adopted a declaration at the start of their summit in South Africa on Saturday despite opposition from the United States, which is boycott two-day talks in a diplomatic break with the host country.

Vincent Magwenya, spokesman for South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, said the other members unanimously adopted a leaders’ statement at the start of talks in Johannesburg. Declarations are usually adopted at the end of G20 summits.

The 122-point declaration urged greater global action on issues that specifically affect poor countries, such as climate-related disasters and sovereign debt levels, and was promoted by the host country as a victory for the first G20 summit to be held in Africa.

The summit has been overshadowed by the U.S. boycott ordered by President Trump, and the United States had pressured South Africa not to adopt a leaders’ statement in the absence of a U.S. delegation, South African officials said.

The South Africa summit has an ambitious agenda to make progress on solving some of the long-standing problems that have plagued the developing world, and leaders and senior government officials gathered at an exhibition center near the township of Soweto, once the home of Nelson Mandela.

Many of South Africa’s priorities, especially addressing climate change and tackling global inequality, have met resistance from the United States. But opening the summit, Ramaphosa said “a consensus has emerged.”

Then, in comments to leaders that were apparently broadcast in error during what was meant to be the start of closed-door discussions, Ramaphosa could be heard saying that leaders would take steps “to adopt our statement now”.

The South African Foreign Minister came over and whispered in Ramaphosa’s ear, and the South African leader said: “It’s okay. They told me the cameras are still on. They should be off.”

While Ramaphosa’s spokesperson said the statement was unanimous, Argentina said it did not support it. Argentine President Javier Milei also did not attend the summit in solidarity with his ally Trump, and the country was represented by Foreign Minister Pablo Quirno.

An ambitious agenda

South Africa, which sets the agenda as the country holding the rotating G20 presidency, wants leaders to agree more help for poor countries to recover from climate-related disasters, reduce their external debt burdens, transition to green energy sources and tap into their own critical mineral wealth, all in a bid to counter rising global inequality.

“We’ll see,” United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said of whether the G20 could prioritize countries in the developing world and make meaningful reforms. “But I think South Africa has done its part by putting those things clearly on the table.”

The summit will take place without the world’s largest economy after Trump boycotted his claims that South Africa is pursuing racist anti-white policies and persecuting its white Afrikaner minority. The Trump administration has also made clear its opposition to South Africa’s G20 agenda that focuses on climate change and inequality.

Leaving the US boycott behind

The months-long diplomatic rift between the United States and South Africa deepened in preparations for this weekend’s summit, but while Trump’s boycott threatened to undermine the agenda, some of the leaders were eager to move forward.

“I’m sorry,” French President Emmanuel Macron said of Trump’s absence, “but that should not block us. Our duty is to be present, to commit and to work together because we have many challenges.”

The G20 is actually a 21-member group comprising 19 nations, the European Union and the African Union.

The bloc was formed in 1999 as a bridge between rich and poor nations to confront global financial crises. While often operating in the shadow of the Group of Seven richest democracies, G20 members together represent about 85% of the world economy, 75% of international trade and more than half of the world’s population.

But it works on consensus rather than binding resolutions, and that is often difficult to achieve with the differing interests of members such as the United States, Russia, China, India, Japan, the Western European nations France, Germany and the United Kingdom, and others such as Indonesia, Saudi Arabia and South Africa.

G20 summits traditionally end with a leaders’ statement, detailing any broad agreements reached by members. South Africa said the United States was putting pressure on it to reduce the tone of the final document to a unilateral statement by the host country.

Ramaphosa responded to that earlier this week by saying: “we will not be intimidated.”

Still, the direction of the G20 bloc is likely to change dramatically given that the United States will take over the rotating presidency from South Africa at the end of this summit.

The only role the United States will play in this summit, the White House said, will be when a representative from the U.S. Embassy in South Africa attends the formal handover ceremony.

South Africa said it is an insult for Ramaphosa to hand over power to a junior diplomatic official.

“We have communicated to the US government that the president will not be handing over to a junior embassy official,” South African Foreign Ministry spokesman Chrispin Phiri told The News, adding that he did not expect there to be a handover ceremony on Sunday.