G20 countries adopt South Africa’s declaration unanimously amid Trump's boycott
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "G20 countries adopt South Africa’s declaration unanimously amid Trump's boycott")
South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa gives the opening speech Photograph: (AFP)
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, who hosted this weekend’s G20 meeting, said on Saturday (Nov 22) that it is important for all members to fully agree on the final statement of the summit, even though the United States decided not to attend.
G20 nations approved South Africa’s declaration with full agreement, despite US President Donald Trump’s decision to boycott the event. Speaking on Saturday (Nov 22), South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, host of this weekend's gathering of Group of 20 leaders, said that it was important for all members to strongly agree on the summit’s final statement, even though the United States decided not to attend.
G20 envoys drew up a draft leaders' declaration on Friday (Nov 21) without US input in it. A senior White House official described this as a "shameful" act.
The draft still mentioned references to climate change, even though the administration of US President Donald Trump have an issue with it. They questioned the scientific consensus that global warming is caused by human activities.
In opening remarks to the Johannesburg summit, Cyril Ramaphosa said:
"There's been overwhelming consensus and agreement that one of the other tasks we should undertake right at the beginning is to ... adopt our declaration."
"He thanked all delegations who had worked together with South Africa "in good faith to produce a worthy G20 outcome document".
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"We should not allow anything to diminish the value, the stature and the impact of the first African G20 presidency," he added.
What G20 Summit declaration says
The G20 summit declaration says, “We emphasise the importance of strengthening multilateral cooperation to address existing and emerging risks to the global economy.”
“We will work for a just, comprehensive and lasting peace in Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, the occupied Palestinian territory and Ukraine,” the declaration adds.
Why US President Donald Trump rejects the South Africa's G20 agenda
US President Donald Trump and his administration chose to boycott from the G20 summit because they believed that South Africa was treating white citizens unfairly an cruelly.
President Trump also rejected the host country’s plan to promote unity and support developing nations in dealing with climate disasters, switching to clean energy, and reducing heavy debt costs.
