SA wins endorsement for G20 agenda
Shadow of Trump looms large
Issues include climate change finance and support for climate adaptation and loss and damage due to natural disasters.
Carol Paton - South Africa's proposed agenda and priorities for the G20 were strongly supported by member nations at the first Sherpa meeting in Johannesburg on Tuesday, with agreement that climate finance, debt sustainability for developing countries, inclusive economic growth and the governance of Artificial Intelligence (AI) should all be among the priorities over the coming year.
However, the shadow of the prospective Trump presidency hung over the gathering, leaving some uncertainty about whether the US's enthusiasm for some of the positions it articulated—such as on climate finance support and free trade—would endure.
Support
Director-general of the Department of International Relations and Cooperation Zane Dangor, the lead Sherpa (the term given to top foreign affairs officials), said that South Africa had received support for everything it had raised.
"It was a very successful Sherpa meeting with robust but very inclusive discussion. We started off yesterday with minister Ronald Lamola saying that the theme would be Solidarity, Equality and Stability, and outlining how we will amplify the voice of the global South around these themes ... We have made a good start," said Dangor.
Fourteen working groups in all and three task forces will produce work on economic growth and job creation, food security and AI.
Climate finance
Support for climate finance and free trade were strongly endorsed across the board, with no explicit discussion on what a Trump presidency might mean.
"The US engaged robustly and there was no formal discussion of a particular threat from a Trump presidency.
“The G20 members were focused on how we drive the climate change agenda, cognisant that challenges may be emerging. It is too soon to know.
“As it stands, the climate change agenda remains strong in the G20, and at this stage, it is supported by the US," said Dangor.
Free trade
There has also been much discussion on free trade, said the G20 South Sherpa Xolisa Mabhongo.
"The G20 countries are supposed to drive an agenda for open and free trade and have previously committed to free trade. But we haven't succeeded in this goal.
“Most developed and developing countries left the last ministerial meeting of the WTO with equal measures of dissatisfaction ... In this meeting there was a lot of discussion on the need for free trade and a recommitment by members of the G20 to do away with protectionism," said Mabhongo.
Mabhongo said there was an expectation that the South African presidency of the G20 would give momentum to the next WTO ministerial meeting, which will also be held on the African continent.
Commission
South Afruca's specific and potentially controversial proposal to establish a Cost of Capital Commission also received "strong support from all quarters, including the developed North", said Dangor.
In a concept note provided to the meeting, South Africa proposed that the commission would investigate policy reform of the IMF, the credit ratings agencies, and the Bank of International Settlements.
Its focus would be to review credit rating agencies' methodologies; consider alternative methodologies; review the role of macro-prudential regulation to help unlock lower-cost private capital; and explore the potential of integrating natural capital and remittance flows (into developing nations) in debt sustainability analyses and credit ratings.
"There was strong support from all quarters ... with countries offering support, including ensuring that we have the right kinds of people, that there is a robust technical discussion, and that political discussions are inclusive," said Dangor.
Review
The meeting also supported South Africa's proposal to produce a review of 20 years of the G20 with the agreement that a methodology would be agreed upon for the assessment.
The G20 – which includes most of the world's largest economies, which together make up 85% of the world's GDP – is an informal multilateral structure, unlike the institutions of the UN.
While there was agreement that the G20 should continue to be informal and that its role was not to compete with the UN, it would nonetheless discuss geopolitical issues at the summit in November 2025 as it did in the previous year.
This includes the conflicts in Palestine and Ukraine.
Soutj Africa wants to expand this to include additional countries, particularly Sudan.
A dedicated Sherpa meeting would be held on the geopolitical issues to prepare for discussions by foreign ministers and, finally, G20 leaders. - Fin24
However, the shadow of the prospective Trump presidency hung over the gathering, leaving some uncertainty about whether the US's enthusiasm for some of the positions it articulated—such as on climate finance support and free trade—would endure.
Support
Director-general of the Department of International Relations and Cooperation Zane Dangor, the lead Sherpa (the term given to top foreign affairs officials), said that South Africa had received support for everything it had raised.
"It was a very successful Sherpa meeting with robust but very inclusive discussion. We started off yesterday with minister Ronald Lamola saying that the theme would be Solidarity, Equality and Stability, and outlining how we will amplify the voice of the global South around these themes ... We have made a good start," said Dangor.
Fourteen working groups in all and three task forces will produce work on economic growth and job creation, food security and AI.
Climate finance
Support for climate finance and free trade were strongly endorsed across the board, with no explicit discussion on what a Trump presidency might mean.
"The US engaged robustly and there was no formal discussion of a particular threat from a Trump presidency.
“The G20 members were focused on how we drive the climate change agenda, cognisant that challenges may be emerging. It is too soon to know.
“As it stands, the climate change agenda remains strong in the G20, and at this stage, it is supported by the US," said Dangor.
Free trade
There has also been much discussion on free trade, said the G20 South Sherpa Xolisa Mabhongo.
"The G20 countries are supposed to drive an agenda for open and free trade and have previously committed to free trade. But we haven't succeeded in this goal.
“Most developed and developing countries left the last ministerial meeting of the WTO with equal measures of dissatisfaction ... In this meeting there was a lot of discussion on the need for free trade and a recommitment by members of the G20 to do away with protectionism," said Mabhongo.
Mabhongo said there was an expectation that the South African presidency of the G20 would give momentum to the next WTO ministerial meeting, which will also be held on the African continent.
Commission
South Afruca's specific and potentially controversial proposal to establish a Cost of Capital Commission also received "strong support from all quarters, including the developed North", said Dangor.
In a concept note provided to the meeting, South Africa proposed that the commission would investigate policy reform of the IMF, the credit ratings agencies, and the Bank of International Settlements.
Its focus would be to review credit rating agencies' methodologies; consider alternative methodologies; review the role of macro-prudential regulation to help unlock lower-cost private capital; and explore the potential of integrating natural capital and remittance flows (into developing nations) in debt sustainability analyses and credit ratings.
"There was strong support from all quarters ... with countries offering support, including ensuring that we have the right kinds of people, that there is a robust technical discussion, and that political discussions are inclusive," said Dangor.
Review
The meeting also supported South Africa's proposal to produce a review of 20 years of the G20 with the agreement that a methodology would be agreed upon for the assessment.
The G20 – which includes most of the world's largest economies, which together make up 85% of the world's GDP – is an informal multilateral structure, unlike the institutions of the UN.
While there was agreement that the G20 should continue to be informal and that its role was not to compete with the UN, it would nonetheless discuss geopolitical issues at the summit in November 2025 as it did in the previous year.
This includes the conflicts in Palestine and Ukraine.
Soutj Africa wants to expand this to include additional countries, particularly Sudan.
A dedicated Sherpa meeting would be held on the geopolitical issues to prepare for discussions by foreign ministers and, finally, G20 leaders. - Fin24
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