World leaders at the 20th Group of 20 (G20) Summit reached broad consensus on disaster resilience, debt sustainability, just energy transitions and critical minerals as they adopted the "G20 South Africa Summit: Leaders' Declaration" on Saturday.

The announcement of the declaration's adoption was made on the opening day of the summit, the first ever held in Africa. The two-day gathering is being held in Johannesburg under the theme "Solidarity, Equality and Sustainability."

The declaration warns that increasingly frequent and intense disasters and shocks are undermining development and overstretching response systems. Leaders said they "hinder progress towards sustainable development and strain both national capabilities and the international system's ability to respond."

They called for integrated, people-centered approaches and highlighted the need for "strengthened disaster resilience and response," particularly for vulnerable small island developing states and least developed countries.

Energy access and transition also featured prominently. The declaration underscores stark inequalities, noting that "over 600 million Africans have no access to electricity."

The leaders support efforts to triple global renewable capacity and double energy-efficiency improvements by 2030, and emphasized the urgency of mobilizing scaled-up investment and facilitating low-cost financing for developing countries in line with national circumstances. They also highlighted the importance of voluntary technology transfer "on mutually agreed terms."

On critical minerals, the G20 endorsed a Critical Minerals Framework, describing it as a voluntary guide for "sustainable, transparent, stable and resilient critical minerals value chains that underpin industrialization and sustainable development."

The declaration stresses that mineral resources should serve as "a catalyst for value-addition and broad-based development, rather than just raw material exports," affirming the right of producing countries to harness their endowments for inclusive growth.

The leaders' declaration reflects a shared recognition that global challenges require more coordinated and equitable approaches.

More equitable global governance

In the declaration, G20 members also reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening multilateralism, with the United Nations at its core.

They reaffirmed peace as a path to sustainable economic development and emphasized the importance of international cooperation and multilateral solutions in addressing global challenges, including growing economic inequality and instability.

According to the declaration, G20 leaders recognized the need to increase global investments to meet the climate goals of the Paris Agreement and to rapidly and substantially scale up investment and climate finance from billions to trillions globally from all sources.

"We reaffirmed the commitment to the swift, full and effective implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework adopted at the COP15 to the Convention on Biological Diversity and encourage other countries to do the same," it said.

The declaration also underlined the empowerment of women and girls in achieving gender equality.

"As we celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, we reaffirm our commitment to its full, effective and accelerated implementation," it said, adding that G20 leaders welcome the Global Leaders' Meeting on Women held in October in Beijing to carry forward the spirit of the Beijing conference.

South Africa assumed the rotating G20 presidency on December 1, 2024, becoming the first African nation to hold the position. The United States is scheduled to take over the presidency on December 1, 2025.