Johannesburg — The 20th G20 Summit, which has been taking place in Johannesburg since Saturday under the theme "Solidarity, Equality, Sustainability," enters in the final day on Sunday with a less intense agenda.
Following the adoption of the G20 Leaders' Declaration at the start of the event, the agenda includes a closed-door session and another on the theme "A just and equitable future for all critical metals."
This section also includes the topics of Decent Work and Artificial Intelligence, ending with the presentation of the summit's final recommendations, which will take place at the Nasrec Exhibition Centre.
This 20th G20 Summit, the first held in Africa, was attended by the Angolan Head of State and current chairperson of the African Union (AU), João Lourenço; the Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres; and several other world leaders.
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It discussed issues affecting the Global South, namely global finance, reforms of International Financial Institutions, inclusion, external debt, Climate Change and Energy Transitions.
The closing will be marked by the non-delivery of the G20 presidential gavel from South Africa to the US due to unease in diplomatic relations between the two countries, evidenced by the latter's absence from the summit.
South African authorities refused to proceed with the symbolic delivery of the G20 presidential gavel to a "lower-level official," as confirmed by the Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Ronald Lamola, in statements to the press.
"The President of South Africa will not hand over power to the US at the summit, but rather at the Department of International Relations and Cooperation or at any other location that the US requests within the borders of South Africa," Lamola said.
In recent days, rumors have emerged that the United States would send a Chargé d'Affaires for the transfer of power.
The African Union, like the European Union, has also been part of the group with permanent status since the summit held in India in September 2023, with a view to emphasizing Africa's voice and influencing decisions on key issues on the G20 agenda.
South Africa assumed the G20 presidency on December 1, 2024. The country will end its term at this summit by passing the gavel to the United States. However, the United States' president, Donald Trump, has already announced that he will not be present at the event.
The first G20 summit took place in Washington, between November 14 and 15, 2008, in which the Action Plan to implement reforms in the functioning of financial institutions and intensify cooperation between regulators, promoting the broader participation of emerging economies, was approved.
Subsequently, summits were held in London (2009), Pittsburgh (2009), Toronto (2010), Seoul (2010), Cannes (2011), Los Cabos (2012), Saint Petersburg (2013), Brisbane (2014), Antalya (2015), Hangzhou (2016), Hamburg (2017), Buenos Aires (2018), Osaka (2019), Riyadh (2020), Rome (2021), Bali (2022), New Delhi (2023), and Rio de Janeiro (2024). ADR/ART/AMP
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