The US government accused South Africa of obstructing the handover of the G20 presidency. The background is a statement regarding the climate crisis. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa pushed through their publication “despite consistent and strong objections from the United States,” White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said. US President Donald Trump hopes to “restore the legitimacy of the G20 when the US hosts in 2026,” he said.
White House calls it “embarrassing”
The declaration at the G20 summit in Johannesburg was made possible thanks to a protocol trick. Formally, this is not a G20 declaration, but rather a statement adopted as a “Declaration of Heads of State and Government”. The US government has warned against making such statements in his absence. A White House official called the move “outrageous.” The United States is scheduled to take over the leadership of the G20 in 2026. According to information from German government circles, they then want to reduce the scale of dialogue significantly. In the statement, the governments present stressed that they wanted to continue working with America despite the boycott.
The statement was written in language that would not be possible if the Trump administration were involved. This highlights the challenges posed by climate change and the need to adapt better. The non-binding declaration also mentions ambitious goals such as expanding renewable energy and points to poor countries’ huge debt burdens. In the past, Trump has prevented climate change from being mentioned in final documents at multilateral meetings.
