G20 – Group of Twenty

Since the financial crisis in Asia in the 1990s, the group of the twenty major industrialised and newly industrialising countries (G20) has met at the level of ministers of finance and presidents or chairmen of the central banks. In response to the global economic and financial crisis, the heads of state and government also started meeting in the G20 context in November 2008 in Washington. In addition to the G7 countries, member states include China, India, Brazil, Mexico, South Africa, Australia, South Korea, Indonesia, Argentina, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Russia and the EU. The G20 Summit in Pittsburgh in 2009 took the decision to meet twice in 2010 (in Canada and in Korea) and to have an annual G20 Summit from 2011 onwards. There was an initial discussion as to whether the G8 and G20 meetings should be merged, however both platforms have since been established as high level meetings. In addition to financial issues, the G20 agenda now also includes more and more discussions on other global challenges such as environmental and development policies.

South Africa's G20 Presidency

South Africa hold the G20 Presidency from 1 December 2024 to 30 November 2025, only five years before the deadline of the United Nations (UN) 2030 Agenda.

South Africa's G20 Presidency takes place when the world is facing a series of overlapping and mutually reinforcing crises, including climate change, underdevelopment, inequality, poverty, hunger, unemployment, technological changes and geopolitical instability. The UN Secretary-General, Mr Antonio Guterres, underscored the urgency of the situation during the launch of the Special Edition of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Progress Report on 25 April 2023.

South Africa will address these urgent challenges by building partnerships across all sectors of society, acting in the interests of our shared humanity.

It is with the spirit of Ubuntu that South Africa approaches its Presidency of G20. This African philosophy emphasises the interconnectedness of individuals within a broader communal, societal, environmental and spiritual context. This guiding principle will shape South Africa's approach as it seeks collective solutions to pressing global collective economic and financial challenges.

Past G20 summits

Overview

The G20 heads of state and government met in Hangzhou, China on 4 and 5 September 2016. The summit’s communique focussed on the world economy and, in particular, on an action package to stimulate global economic growth. The document’s topics also included the refugee crisis and increased climate efforts. On a positive note, the G20 also expressed its support for the swift, ambitious implementation of the Paris Agreement. In addition, China and the USA announced the ratification of the agreement. The heads of state and government also committed to the worldwide implementation of the 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals, adopting an action plan on the topic.
The G20 countries are responsible for the lion's share of global energy consumption and CO2 emissions. Increasing and deepening cooperation on a sustainable energy future, which was also agreed by the G20 in Hangzhou, sends the right message after the Paris Agreement. Linking the energy agenda more closely with the climate agreement will be a focus of the German G20 Presidency in 2017.
Further information
Annex der Gipfelerklärung (external PDF, 176 KB)
Hangzhou Action Plan (external PDF, 315KB)
Blueprint on innovative growth (external PDF, 552 KB)
G20 Action Plan on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (external PDF, 1,7 MB)
On 15 and 16 November 2015 the G20 heads of state and government met in Belek (Antalya). The discussions held just days after the attacks in Paris focused on international cooperation in the fight against terrorism. Topics such as the refugee crisis and sustainable and inclusive economic growth played a major role as well. From an environment perspective it is worth highlighting that the G20 reiterated their commitment to limiting global warming to below two degrees and stressed their intention to adopt a binding climate agreement that is applicable to all countries at the climate change conference in Paris (COP 21).
The G20 welcomed the fact that more than 160 countries have submitted intended nationally determined contributions (INDCs) to climate change mitigation and encouraged the remaining countries to present their contributions before Paris. Implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which was adopted at the UN Sustainability Summit in September, was another point of discussion. China will take over the G20 Presidency on 1 December 2015. Germany will have the Presidency in 2017.
Furher information
Final statement (external PDF, 370 KB)
G20 statement on the fight against terrorism (external PDF, 224 KB)
On 15 and 16 November 2014 the G20 heads of state and government met in Brisbane, Australia. This Summit focused on economic matters and among other things the G20 set themselves the goal of increasing GDP by two percent by 2018. Noteworthy, from an environmental perspective, is the initiation of an energy efficiency action plan by the G20. The Federal Government successfully advocated that the G20 continue to address climate action issues in the coming year. The G20 agreed to work closely together towards adopting a legally binding, universal climate agreement at the Climate Summit in Paris in 2015 (COP21). Furthermore, the G20 heads of state and government called on all states to communicate their national climate targets by the first quarter of 2015 if possible and to confirm their support for the mobilisation of funds to finance climate action. On the fringes of the Summit, the USA and Japan announced their contributions to the Green Climate Fund.
Further information
Summit declaration (external PDF, 734 KB)
The G20 heads of state and government sent out a supportive signal from the Summit in St. Petersburg on 5 and 6 September 2013 to the Climate Conference, which took place in Warsaw in November 2013. On the basis of the report finally submitted at the Summit by the G20 Study Group on Climate Finance, the heads of state and government furthermore renewed their request to the G20 finance ministers to continue the G20 work on climate funding and report on it at the next Climate Summit in Brisbane. As part of the policies on sustainable development and green growth the G20 intend to draw up policy recommendations on "clean" energy and energy efficiency. Moreover, nuclear safety was put on the agenda of a G20 meeting for the first time. The G20 emphasised that the use of nuclear power was inextricably linked to the responsibility for utmost nuclear safety, security and non-proliferation for states already using nuclear power and those starting to use it.
Further information
Summit declaration (external PDF, 294 KB)
The Summit organised by Mexico in Los Cabos on 18 and 19 June 2012, only 7 months after the meeting in Cannes, did not yield many results. Very little progress was made in climate funding and as such the report requested for this summit could not be submitted. Still, the G20 heads of state and government welcomed the results of the UN Climate Change Conference in Durban and demonstrated their determination to fully implement the decisions taken there. They also agreed to make the Green Climate Fund operational and paid tribute to efforts made in support of green growth. This topic is to remain a priority on the G20 agenda.
Further information
Summit declaration (external PDF, 143 KB)
The Cannes Summit, which took place on 3 and 4 November 2011 under French Presidency, also covered funding the fight against global climate change as a priority environmental issue. In the run-up to the UN climate conference in Durban in South Africa (28 November to 9 December 2011), the heads of state and government of the G20 reaffirmed their willingness to step up their efforts to establish the climate fund and make it operational. They also discussed a report on climate funding submitted by the World Bank, the IMF, the OECD and regional development banks. The heads of state and government of the G20 asked their ministers of finance to report to the subsequent 2012 Summit at Los Cabos on the progress achieved in the field of climate funding. Other topics which were once again discussed by the Cannes G20 Summit included improvements in the protection of the marine environment with regard to offshore oil and gas exploration (the mechanism to share best practices that had been established in the meantime was welcomed by the meeting) and support for low-carbon development strategies to foster green growth.
Further information
Communiqué of the leaders (external PDF, 158 KB)
Summit declaration (external PDF, 229 KB)
At the Toronto G20 Summit, which took place on 26 and 27 June 2010 and was organised back to back with the G8 Summit, the heads of state and government declared their support for the UN climate negotiations and recognised the need to exchange best practices for the protection of the marine environment as well as for the prevention of accidents in the context of offshore oil extraction and the mitigation of their impacts.
Further information
Summit declaration (external PDF, 224 KB)

Last updated: 16.10.2025

G20 – Group of Twenty

South Africa's G20 Presidency

Past G20 summits

Overview

01 G20 Summit in Hangzhou 2016openclose

02 G20 Summit in Antalya 2015openclose

03 G20 Summit in Brisbane 2014openclose

04 G20 in St. Petersburg 2013openclose

05 G20 Summit in Los Cabos 2012openclose

06 G20 Summit in Cannes 2011openclose

07 G20 Summit in Seoul 2010openclose

08 G20 Summit in Toronto 2010openclose

Policy-making in dialogue