Johannesburg
\nA Group of 20 leaders\u2019 summit in South Africa adopted a declaration addressing the climate crisis and other global challenges on Saturday after it was drafted without US input in a move a White House official called \u201cshameful.\u201d
\nThe declaration, using language to which Washington has been opposed, \u201ccan\u2019t be renegotiated,\u201d South African President Cyril Ramaphosa\u2019s spokesperson told reporters, reflecting strains between Pretoria and the Trump administration over the event.
\n\u201cWe had the entire year of working towards this adoption and the past week has been quite intense,\u201d the spokesperson said.
\nDeclaration mentions climate change
\nEnvoys from the G20 – which brings together the world\u2019s major economies \u2013 drew up a draft leaders\u2019 declaration on Friday without US involvement, four sources familiar with the matter said.
\nThe declaration used the kind of language long disliked by the Trump administration: stressing the seriousness of climate change and the need to better adapt to it, praising ambitious targets to boost renewable energy and noting the punishing levels of debt service suffered by poor countries.
\nThe mention of climate change was a snub to US President Donald Trump, who doubts the scientific consensus that global warming is caused by human activities. US officials had indicated they would oppose any reference to it in the declaration.
\nThe White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
\nIn opening remarks to the summit, Ramaphosa said: \u201cThere\u2019s been overwhelming consensus and agreement that one of the other tasks we should undertake right at the beginning is to \u2026 adopt our declaration.\u201d
\n\u201cWe should not allow anything to diminish the value, the stature and the impact of the first African G20 presidency,\u201d he said.
\nHis bold tone was a striking contrast to his subdued decorum during his visit to the White House in August, in which he endured Trump repeating a false claim that there was a genocide of white farmers in South Africa, brushing aside Ramaphosa\u2019s efforts to correct his facts.
\nTrump said US officials would not attend the summit because of allegations, widely discredited, that the host country\u2019s Black majority government persecutes its white minority.
\nTrump rejects South Africa\u2019s G20 agenda
\nThe US president has also rejected the host nation\u2019s agenda of promoting solidarity and helping developing nations adapt to weather disasters, transition to clean energy and cut their excessive debt costs.
\n\u201cThe multilateral platform cannot be paralyzed on the basis of the absence of someone who was invited,\u201d South African Foreign Minister Ronald Lamola told public broadcaster SABC.
\n\u201cThis G20 is not about the US. It\u2019s about all the 21 members of the G20. We are all equal members of the G20. What it means is that we need to take a decision. Those of us who are here have decided this is where the world must go.\u201d
\nBut in a sign of the many geopolitical fissures underlying the agreed text, EU Commissioner Ursula von der Leyen warned in a speech about the \u201cthe weaponisation of dependencies\u201d which she said \u201conly creates losers.\u201d
\nThis was an apparent veiled reference to China\u2019s export curbs on rare earths vital for the world\u2019s energy transition, as well as defense and digital technology.
\nThe United States will host the G20 in 2026 and Ramaphosa said he would have to hand over the rotating presidency to an \u201cempty chair.\u201d
\nThe South African presidency on Saturday reiterated its rejection of a US offer to send the US charge d\u2019affaires for the G20 handover.
\n\u201cThe president will not hand over to a junior embassy official the presidency of the G20. It\u2019s a breach of protocol that is not going to be accommodated,\u201d presidency spokesperson Vincent Magwenya said.
\n\u201cAmerica chose to boycott the summit. That\u2019s their choice, and that\u2019s their prerogative to do so.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Johannesburg A Group of 20 leaders\u2019 summit in South Africa adopted a declaration addressing the climate crisis and other global challenges on Saturday after it was drafted without US input in a move a White House official called \u201cshameful.\u201d The declaration, using language to which Washington has been opposed, \u201ccan\u2019t be renegotiated,\u201d South African President […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":516192,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-516195","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n