Brussels 22.11.2025 Today a Group of 20 leaders’ Summit in South Africa, Johannesburg, adopted a Declaration addressing the climate crisis and other global challenges after it was drafted without U.S. input in a move a White House official called “shameful.”
My Statement at the Opening Session of the G20 Leaders’ Summit #G20SouthAfrica 🇿🇦 pic.twitter.com/APRB6VBbxJ
— Cyril Ramaphosa 🇿🇦 (@CyrilRamaphosa) November 22, 2025
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In opening remarks to the 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.”
“We should not allow anything to diminish the value, the stature and the impact of the first African G20 presidency,” he said.
The President Ramaphosa conviction and determination was a striking contrast to the dramatic visit to the White House in August, when he faced the accusation of the genocide of white farmers in South Africa. The accusations he vemenently denied, using his ususal argument of the general situation in the country, plagued by criminality, especially the delinquents from the empoverished townships. Moreover, South Africa does not release crime figures based on ethinicity, and race. Conclusing the meeting, the Trump administration will give priority to white South Africans refugees, whose lives are in danger in the SA.
Statue of a White farmer in South Africa with his child, pistol in his hand, protecting his family.
The White crosses behind them are the massacred White farmers in South Africa since 2012. pic.twitter.com/dvYo95SiUu
— Sir Cabonena Alfred (@Lebona_cabonena) November 20, 2025
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The Declaration, implied language to which Trump’s administration has been opposed, “can’t be renegotiated,” South African President Cyril Ramaphosa’s spokesperson told press, reflecting strains between Pretoria and the Washington over the event, caused by the situation of the white farmers.
“We had the entire year of working towards this adoption and the past week has been quite intense,” the spokesperson explained.
Ramaphosa, host of this weekend’s gathering of Group of 20 leaders in Johannesburg, had earlier said there was “overwhelming consensus” for the Summit Declaration.
G20 World Leaders Family Photo🇿🇦🌍
United, in purpose and diversity, world leaders gather at the G20 Summit for a family photo as a true testament to global collaboration.
Against the vibrant backdrop of unity and Ubuntu, this family photo captures resolute faces determined to… pic.twitter.com/Ft3bwLXpmj
— G20 South Africa (@g20org) November 22, 2025
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The envoys from the G20, which brings together the world’s major economies, drew up a draft leaders’ Declaration on Friday, November 21, without U.S. engagement, the sources familiar with the matter said.
The Declaration mentioned the issues opposed by the Trump administration, focusing on the seriousness of climate change and the need to the adaptation, praising ambitious targets to boost renewable energy and pointing to the punishing levels of debt service suffered by poor countries.
President Cyril Ramaphosa has announced that the Declaration from South Africa’s G20 Leaders’ Summit has been adopted by an overwhelming majority of the Group of 20 Member States.
The adoption of the Declaration from the Summit sends an important signal to the world that… pic.twitter.com/7wBksN03fO
— G20 South Africa (@g20org) November 22, 2025
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The mention of climate change was a direct confrontation with the ideas of the U.S. President Trump, who dismisses the hypothesis of global warming as a sham. The U.S. officials had indicated they would oppose any reference to it in the Declaration.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
AFRICA DIPLOMATIC 