(4 Minutes Read)
The 2025 G20 Summit in Johannesburg highlighted the priorities of the Global South—calling for climate finance, debt relief, governance reforms, and equitable digital and energy transitions—while showcasing Africa’s Ubuntu philosophy of collective action. However, the absence of major world leaders and rising internal divisions, especially U.S.–South Africa tensions, raised doubts about the G20’s cohesion, credibility, and ability to implement its commitments.
The 2025 G20 Leaders’ Summit, held on November 22–23 in Johannesburg, South Africa, marked a historic milestone as the first G20 meeting hosted on African soil. As the host nation, South Africa infused the summit with African philosophy, adopting the theme of Ubuntu— “I am because we are”—to emphasise the significance of global collaboration and collective action in addressing inequality. The 122-point declaration issued at the conclusion of the summit embodied the Ubuntu spirit of interdependence, calling for mutual cooperation, climate action, debt relief, and due focus on the priorities of the Global South.
The Summit was most notable for the conspicuous absence of global leaders, including Chinese leader Xi Jinping, Russian president Vladimir Putin and US president Donald Trump. The absence of the global leaders naturally raised doubts about the future relevance of the G20. The U.S. boycott was particularly striking, given that the United States is not only a founding member of the G20 but is also set to assume the rotating presidency of the forum next year.
Nevertheless, the G20 Summit in Johannesburg, played a unique role in placing firmly the priorities of the Global South at the heart of the G20 agenda. It urged for reforms of the UN security Council and the IMF to enhance inclusivity and ensure greater representation from unrepresented regions.
It called for immediate action to operationalise climate finance including the Loss and Damage Fund. On debt relief mechanism, it advocated simplification and expansion of the G20 Common Framework, incorporating debt-for -climate and debt-for-development swaps. It pointed out that the unfair borrowing cost and debt vulnerabilities drained the resources of the developing countries impacting their capacity to invest in infrastructure, health, education etc.
To ensure Just Energy Transition, the Global South sought investment and support in developing renewable energy and expanding access to clean technology. The summit also highlighted the importance of bridging the digital divide by promoting responsible governance of technology and AI. It also underlined the need to strengthen a global framework for safe, transparent, and inclusive AI practices.
Food Security and Human capital Development are other areas of priority. To foster sustainable and inclusive growth, the summit called for greater support for climate-resilient agriculture, the development of youth skills, and the empowerment of women. These efforts aim to build a more equitable future, addressing both environmental and social challenges.
Amid global tensions and growing development challenges, the Johannesburg G20 Declaration addressed several crucial issues facing the Global South. Yet the recently concluded Summit raises some very pertinent questions.
Without robust governing mechanisms and measurable outcomes, these declarations can just languish as aspirational statements. Despite repeated pleas, the developing countries continue to grapple with high borrowing costs, opaque debt structure and slow restructuring process. Proper accountability mechanisms are needed to bridge the implementation gaps in climate finance. Similarly, the ambiguity about safeguards to address the social and environmental concerns for mineral extraction and value addition is a major issue for mineral-rich nations.
The challenges of the digital divide, privacy issues, and the risks of misuse, algorithmic bias, and sovereignty concerns in the rapidly evolving tech landscape continue. There is an urgent need for comprehensive solutions to ensure that technological advancements benefit all, without exacerbating existing inequalities.
The biggest challenge facing G20 is the growing divide within the Bloc. The absence of leaders of global powers from the G20 Summit in Johannesburg, points at the lack of consensus and cohesion among members. The United States, in particular, has openly criticized several points adopted in the summit’s declaration. As the U.S. is set to take over the rotating presidency from South Africa, this casts a shadow over the impact and legacy of the South African-led summit.
The G20 functions under a ‘troika’ mechanism wherein the previous, current and next summit hosts come together throughout the year to prepare and deliver the agenda for the next Summit. Currently the US-South Africa relationship is at its lowest ebb. In an unprecedented move, the US stated that it will not invite South Africa for the next Summit in Florida. Such a move will threaten the basic structure of the G20. In such a context, the effectiveness of the Bloc in confronting some of the biggest global crisis remains unclear.
