President Cyril Ramaphosa speaking during the opening of the Group of 20 (G20) Foreign Ministers Meeting held at Nasrec Expo Centre in Johannesburg. Picture: Supplied/GCIS
President Cyril Ramaphosa has lamented the lack of consensus among the world’s superpowers to tackle global challenges such as climate change, poverty and hunger, as well as geopolitical tensions and wars.
This comes as tensions continue to escalate between South Africa and the US following the Trump administration’s cutting of aid due to perceived persecution of Afrikaner farmers following the passing of the Land Expropriation Act.
Speaking at the opening of the Group of 20 (G20) Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Johannesburg on Thursday, Ramaphosa said the decisions and policies of the G20 must reflect the needs and aspirations of all who form part of the G20 family.
The meeting went on despite the conspicuous absence of the US Secretary fo State, Marco Rubio, who has boycotted it due to South Africa’s foreign policy stance.
Ramaphosa said the conflicts between Russia and Ukraine, in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, in Sudan, in the Sahel and in Gaza continued to exact a heavy human toll and heighten global insecurity, and thus the G20 must continue to advocate for diplomatic solutions.
“Geopolitical tensions, rising intolerance, conflict and war, climate change, pandemics and energy and food insecurity threaten an already fragile global coexistence. These challenges are interconnected. They require responses that are inclusive and coordinated,” he said.
“Yet there is a lack of consensus among major powers, including in the G20, on how to respond to these issues of global significance. Extreme poverty and growing inequality within and among nations weigh heavily on the conscience of the world.
“The nations of the world look to the G20 for leadership on the most pressing issues confronting our world. Just as cooperation supported the progress of early humans, our modern-day challenges can only be resolved through collaboration, partnership and solidarity. That is why South Africa has placed solidarity, equality and sustainability at the centre of our G20 Presidency.”
Ramaphosa also called on G20 Leaders to urge the global community, including international financial institutions, development banks and the private sector, to scale up post-disaster reconstruction.
He said the global community should take action to ensure debt sustainability for low-income countries.
“Developing economies are currently experiencing the highest borrowing costs in nearly two decades. Debt payments are crowding out vital domestic expenditure and diverting critical resources away from development,” he said.
“More than 3.3 billion people live in countries where interest payments on debt exceed education or health spending. The G20 needs to renew its efforts to advance debt sustainability, with a particular emphasis on African countries.”
Minister of International Relations, Ronald Lamola, concurred that the G20 was primarily preoccupied with matters related to international economic cooperation.
Lamola said it was instructive that the G20 supports the restoration of global stability and common purpose.
“To do so, we must recommit to the principles of solidarity, equality, and sustainability by emphasising the need for dialogue, multilateralism, and finding common ground to address global challenges,” he said.
“Despite contributing the least to climate change, Africa bears the brunt of its devastating effects, which cost the continent up to 5% of its GDP.
This stark reality underscores a glaring injustice: of the staggering $10 trillion invested globally in clean energy from 2015 to 2022, Africa received a mere 2%. This disparity is not just an oversight; it’s a profound inequality that demands urgent redress.
“As we meet as the G20 Ministers of Foreign Affairs, it is instructive that this meeting provide guidance on how the world should navigate these exigent issues of the present, in particular the vexing geo-political issues.”
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