G20 South Africa 2025 Leaders’ Declaration: Full Text

Leaders’ Declaration Johannesburg, 22–23 November 2025 “Solidarity, Equality, Sustainability – #ReKaofela”

We, the Leaders of the G20, met for the first time on African soil in Johannesburg under South Africa’s Presidency. Guided by the African philosophy of Ubuntu – “I am because we are” – we reaffirm that no nation can prosper alone. In an era of deepening geopolitical tensions, conflicts, inequality, and climate crises, we choose solidarity over isolation, multilateralism over fragmentation, and shared responsibility over indifference.
We condemn all wars and violence that cause immense human suffering. We insist on full respect for international law, the UN Charter, and international humanitarian law. Attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure are unacceptable. Terrorism in all its forms must be defeated. We call for just, comprehensive, and lasting peace in Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Ukraine, and all regions enduring conflict. Only peace unlocks sustainable prosperity.
Disasters – whether triggered by nature, human action, or worsened by climate change – are growing in frequency and ferocity. They hit the poorest and most vulnerable hardest: Small Island Developing States, Least Developed Countries, and the African continent. We commit to build genuine resilience through prevention, anticipatory finance (including parametric insurance, risk pools, and catastrophe bonds), nature-based solutions, and universal early-warning coverage by 2027. We endorse the G20 Voluntary High-Level Principles for Disaster Risk Reduction and the Recovery Readiness Assessment Framework as practical tools for a more prepared world.
Unsustainable debt is robbing millions in low-income countries of their future. Interest payments in many African nations have more than doubled in a decade. We will implement the Common Framework predictably and swiftly, enhance debt transparency (including from private creditors), and explore innovative tools such as climate and nature swaps. We welcome progress on the IMF–World Bank Debt Sustainability Framework and urge faster support for countries with sustainable debt but acute liquidity needs.
Energy poverty remains a moral and economic scandal: 600 million Africans lack electricity and nearly one billion have no access to clean cooking, causing two million premature deaths yearly. We reaffirm the global goals of tripling renewable capacity and doubling energy-efficiency improvements by 2030 while recognising all low- and zero-emission technologies and pathways consistent with national circumstances. We endorse the Voluntary Energy Security Toolkit and the Infrastructure Investment Action Plan for Clean Cooking. We welcome Mission 300 to connect 300 million Africans to electricity by 2030 and support Africa-led just energy transitions with concessional finance, de-risking instruments, and technology transfer on mutually agreed terms.
Critical minerals must become a ladder for development, not another extractive curse. We launch the G20 Critical Minerals Framework to promote transparent, resilient, and sustainable value chains, local beneficiation, and diversification so that resource-rich developing countries capture more value and jobs at home.
Inclusive industrialisation, decent jobs, and reduced inequality are inseparable. We adopt the High-Level Principles on Sustainable Industrial Policy and reaffirm that quality jobs and adaptive social protection are the heart of progress. We welcome new targets to further reduce youth not in employment, education, or training (the Nelson Mandela Bay Target) and to close gender gaps in pay and participation (revised Brisbane–Thekwini Goal).
Hunger and food insecurity persist at unacceptable levels. We adopt the Ubuntu Approaches on Food Security and Nutrition and commit to resilient, sustainable, and inclusive food systems, open and rules-based trade, support for smallholder farmers (especially women and youth), and implementation of the African Union’s CAADP and the AfCFTA.
Artificial intelligence and digital technologies can either widen divides or become the greatest equalisers in history. We welcome the AI for Africa Initiative and commit to safe, secure, trustworthy, and inclusive AI governance that amplifies African voices, datasets, computing power, and sovereign capabilities.
Africa’s potential is boundless, yet under-realised. We strengthen the Compact with Africa, launch its second phase (2025–2033), and welcome new members Zambia and Angola. We endorse the G20 Finance Track Africa Engagement Framework (2025–2030) and the voluntary Africa Cooperation Agenda on Trade and Investment to accelerate the AfCFTA and Agenda 2063.
We reaffirm the centrality of the United Nations and the urgent need for its reform, including a more representative, effective, and accountable Security Council that finally corrects the historic injustice against Africa and other under-represented regions.
Ten years after the Paris Agreement and on the eve of decisive climate deadlines, we recommit unequivocally to holding warming to 1.5 °C, reaching global net-zero by mid-century, and aligning all financial flows with climate goals. Developing countries require trillions, not billions, in support. We will scale up concessional finance, technology transfer, and capacity-building, and ensure the New Collective Quantified Goal on climate finance delivers ambition matching the crisis.
Gender equality is not an add-on; it is the foundation of just societies. We will eradicate violence against women and girls, close economic gaps, invest in the care economy, and achieve full implementation of the Beijing Declaration +30.
We thank President Cyril Ramaphosa and the people of South Africa for their warm hospitality and visionary leadership under the theme of Solidarity, Equality, Sustainability. The spirit of Ubuntu will continue to guide us.
We look forward to continuing this journey together under the United States Presidency in 2026, the United Kingdom in 2027, and the Republic of Korea in 2028.