South African President Cyril Ramaphosa says the newly adopted G20 declaration reflects a renewed global commitment to multilateral cooperation, even as diplomatic tensions — particularly with the United States — cast a shadow over the summit’s close in Johannesburg.
Speaking at the final ceremony on Sunday, Ramaphosa said the agreement reached by leaders demonstrated that the world’s “shared goals outweigh our differences”, underscoring collective pledges to address urgent global issues including the climate crisis, rising inequality and economic instability. The host nation pushed the declaration through despite objections from the US, which boycotted the gathering.
Ramaphosa insisted the summit outcome was more than symbolic, describing it as a commitment to concrete action to improve lives across the world. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva echoed this, saying the G20 and Brazil’s recent COP30 climate summit showed that multilateralism “remains alive”, but stressed that political will is now needed to implement the decisions made.
The summit wrapped up amid a diplomatic row after South Africa refused to hand over the rotating G20 presidency to what it said was an improperly ranked US representative. Foreign Minister Ronald Lamola said only a head of state, presidential envoy or minister would have been appropriate. The United States is set to lead the G20 in 2026 and has announced plans to host the summit at President Donald Trump’s golf resort in Doral, Florida.
Trump, who skipped the Johannesburg summit, accused the South African government of persecuting its white minority — claims widely rejected as baseless. South African officials said the US had initially indicated it would not attend and then abruptly signalled its interest, but the White House denied any change in position. Despite the dispute, Ramaphosa confirmed that the presidency had formally passed to the US.
Outside the US–South Africa rift, other geopolitical tensions also featured at the summit. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Ankara was still evaluating whether to deploy security forces as part of a proposed international stabilisation mission for Gaza. Erdogan repeated his accusation that Israel’s military actions amounted to “genocide” and held Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responsible.
South Africa’s G20 presidency marked the first time the summit was hosted on African soil and broke tradition by issuing the leaders’ declaration on the opening day. The US opposed the text, describing South Africa’s agenda — which heavily focused on climate justice, wealth inequality and debt relief for poorer nations — as misaligned with its priorities. Argentina, whose President Javier Milei skipped the meeting, also opposed the declaration.
Still, the majority of G20 members — including China, Russia, Germany, France, the UK, Japan, and Canada — backed the final document. The declaration calls for increased global support for countries recovering from climate-related disasters, measures to ease debt burdens and expanded access to green energy, reflecting South Africa’s push to centre developing-world concerns at the heart of G20 policymaking.
As world leaders depart Johannesburg, the summit closes with a message of unity mixed with geopolitical strain — a reminder of both the significance and the fragility of multilateral cooperation in an increasingly fractured world.
