JOHANNESBURG : Leaders of the Group of 20 top economies gathered for a US-boycotted summit in South Africa on Saturday, seeking a deal on a draft declaration drawn up without US input in a surprise move that a senior White House official described as “shameful.”
G20 envoys have agreed on a draft leaders’ declaration ahead of the weekend summit in Johannesburg, in which several of the top agenda items are about climate change. The draft was drawn up without seeking US consensus, four sources familiar with the matter said on Friday.
One of those sources confirmed late on Friday that the draft made references to climate change, despite objections from the administration of US President Donald Trump, who doubts the scientific consensus that warming is caused by human activities.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres attends a media briefing inside the G20 Summit venue at the Nasrec Expo Centre, ahead of the summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, on November 21, 2025. (REUTERS)
Trump has indicated that it will boycott the summit because of allegations, widely discredited, that the host country’s Black majority government persecutes its white minority.
