Secretary-General's Press Conference at the G20 Summit
United Nations Secretary-General
21 November 2025
Johannesburg, South Africa
Press events | António Guterres, Secretary-General
Ladies and gentlemen of the media,
I thank President Ramaphosa and the people of South Africa for their warm welcome, and for hosting the G20 Summit.
My message to G20 leaders over the next two days is simple.
Now is the time for leadership and vision.
We are living through tumultuous times.
Conflicts, climate chaos, economic uncertainty, mounting debt, inequality and a collapse in global aid are inflicting massive suffering around the world.
And rising military spending is drawing resources away from development.
As the world's largest economies, the G20 can hold enormous influence to ease suffering, ensure that economic growth is widely shared, and set our world on a better, more peaceful course for the future.
The theme of this year's meeting - "Solidarity, Equality and Sustainability" - points the way.
Over the next two days, I will call on G20 members to use their leverage to lead the action we need.
First - we need economic action.
Developing countries - in particular in Africa - are suffering from a perfect storm of shrinking fiscal space, crushing debt burdens, and a global financial architecture that is failing to support - or even represent - them adequately.
Africa has been a double victim of colonialism.
First through centuries of exploitation and plunder.
And then again when international institutions were created - when most African countries were still under colonial rule, and their voices were absent from the table.
Today, Africa remains woefully under-represented across global institutions.
This must change.
The Pact for the Future, adopted by Member States last year, called for a reform of global financial institutions.
Many decisions are disproportionately in the hands of some of the members of G20 across the governance bodies of these institutions.
Africa must have a fair seat in every forum where decisions are made - from the boards of international financial institutions to permanent seats in the United Nations Security Council, and to other global bodies.
The G20 can help repair this historic injustice and drive reforms that give developing countries - and Africa in particular - a real voice in shaping global policies, and make global economic governance more inclusive, representative, equitable and effective in the years ahead.
I will also urge G20 members to live up to the commitments made in June in the Financing for Development Conference in Sevilla to unlock more finance for developing countries.
To triple the lending power of multilateral development banks.
To increase their role in leveraging more private finance.
To ease debt burdens with new instruments to reduce borrowing costs and risks, and speed-up support for countries facing debt distress, drawing on recommendations from my debt expert group.
To help developing countries strengthen their capacity to mobilize domestic resources.
And to build trade bridges, not trade barriers.
Too many developing countries - especially in Africa - find themselves at the bottom of value chains, or locked out of trade opportunities.
G20 members can lead the way by dismantling trade barriers and ensuring trade-free access to their markets for the poorest countries.
Meanwhile, inequality has become a cancer in our societies, concentrating power and eroding trust in democracy.
I commend the G20 Presidency for commissioning a bold report on global inequality.
Second - we need climate action.
The ongoing COP30 meeting demonstrates how much work needs to be done.
Countries have failed to keep temperatures to the 1.5 degree temperature rise limit.
Science tells us that a temporary overshoot above this limit is now inevitable.
We must make this overshoot as small, short and safe as possible.
Avoiding more climate chaos means bridging the adaptation gap - urgently.
That requires a massive scale up of financing.
Developed countries must keep their promises:
By doubling adaptation finance to at least $40 billion this year - and giving confidence that meaningfully increased affordable and accessible adaptation finance will be scaled up beyond 2025.
By mobilizing the $300 billion per year promised to developing countries by 2035.
By delivering on the Baku to Belem plan mobilizing all relevant partners for achieve $1.3 trillion annually to be achieved in climate finance and in the same timeframe for developing countries.
Simultaneously, it is time to capitalize the Loss and Damage Fund - including exploring possibilities of innovative finance.
We also need to supercharge the just transition to renewable energy.
Last year, 90 per cent of new power capacity came from renewables.
Global investment in clean energy reached $2 trillion - $800 billion more than fossil fuels.
But only a negligeable proportion went to Africa.
Africa should be at the heart of this clean energy revolution.
The continent holds immense solar and wind potential - but lacks the investments needed to harness them.
A just energy transition must also mean to entirely electrifying Africa - powering homes, schools, clinics and industries, and creating decent jobs for its young people.
No one should be left in the dark by the clean energy age - least of all a continent that has contributed the least to the climate crisis.
The economics are on our side.
But political will needs to catch up.
Fossil fuels still receive vast subsidies.
Corporations are pocketing record profits from climate devastation.
And lobbyists continue to greenwash the truth, while developing countries are locked out of a greener future.
Ensuring that all countries can make this shift means aligning national policies and budgets with a just energy transition.
It means providing resources and technology to help developing countries invest in grids, storage and efficiency.
It means supporting workers and affected communities to make the transition, through training, protection and new opportunities.
And it means unlocking finance at scale for developing countries by cutting the cost of capital and crowding in private investment.
I will discuss these issues in detail with G20 leaders tomorrow.
Finally - we need action for peace.
I will call on G20 members to use their influence and voices to end the conflicts that are causing so much death, destruction and destabilization around the world.
We need peace in Sudan:
Through ending the carnage and an immediate cessation of hostilities.
Through the safe, unimpeded and rapid delivery of humanitarian aid to civilians in need in the whole Sudan.
By ending the flow of weapons and fighters into Sudan by external parties.
And by both the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces coming to the negotiating table.
We need peace in the Democratic Republic of the Congo - through a lasting solution that respects the country's sovereignty and territorial integrity, while addressing the root causes of the instability and violence.
We need security and peace in the Sahel.
Armed groups and terrorist networks continue to exploit fragile governance and intercommunal tensions, fueling cycles of violence that have displaced millions and destabilized entire communities.
The alarming developments in Mali are making a dramatic situation even worse, presenting new risks to the wider region and the entire continent.
Addressing this dire security situation means taking action to urgently restore trust and strengthen cooperation between countries across the region.
It's time for the countries of the region to stand together and deliver the stability, hope and peace that people across the Sahel need and deserve.
We need a just, sustainable and comprehensive peace in Ukraine - in accordance with the UN Charter, international law and resolutions of the General Assembly.
We need peace in Gaza:
By upholding the ceasefire, ending its continued violations, and fully implementing the commitments of the peace agreement.
By establishing a credible political path towards ending the occupation.
And by realizing the right to self-determination of the Palestinian people, leading to a two-state solution that enables Israelis and Palestinians to live in peace and security, anchored in international law.
And everywhere - from Haiti to Yemen to Myanmar and beyond - we must choose peace anchored in international law.
Ladies and gentlemen of the media,
I look forward to a productive Summit, and I thank the government and people of South Africa for their warm welcome.
***
Question: Good afternoon, Mr. Secretary-General. Thank you so much and welcome to Johannesburg. My name is John Besche reporting for the Financial Mail here in South Africa. My question is as the G20 convenes this weekend; there's uncertainty about whether commitments regarding sustainable Finance Debt Reform and Climate Adaptation will tangibly benefit ordinary people once the spotlight moves on from South Africa? From your vantage point, what specific mechanisms exist or are needed to ensure that the G20 yields meaningful improvements in the lives of ordinary South Africans?
Secretary-General: I first of all pay tribute to leadership of President Cyril Ramaphosa. I think he has put on the table all the issues that matter in relation to the needs, the financial and economic needs, of the developing countries in general and African countries in particular. But the G20 is an informal gathering that decides by consensus and obviously, one of the reasons why I'm talking to you today, is to put pressure on the G20 to do exactly the kind of reforms that are necessary for the perspectives of development and the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals in the African continent to become a reality. The system as it works today is unfair and ineffective. I've been saying time and time again that the present international financial architecture was designed by a group of developed countries and essentially adapted to the needs of their economies. It's time to have a real global international financial system, which main preoccupation should be [to] address the challenges that developing countries face. Will the G20 be able to move in that direction? We will see. But I think that South Africa has done its part putting those things clearly on the table.
Question from AFP: You mentioned or talked about a sustainable and comprehensive peace plan in Ukraine. I just wanted to know what's your overall assessment of the 28 [point] peace plan that has been brokered by the US. Do we have some of the issues that are promising in that peace plan? And do you have some that you think still need more discussion?
Secretary-General: First of all, we don't know what the peace plan is. I just read on the papers that Russia has not yet received any peace plan, so we are talking about something that is in the press that was never present formally by the United States or by any other entity. For us as UN, the criteria of any peace plan are always based in the values of the Charter and in international law. And so obviously for us, a peace solution for Ukraine that is in line with these principles would also abide by the resolutions of the General Assembly that have clearly indicated that the territory integrity of Ukraine - and in general, around the world, the territorial integrity of states - must be respected.
I just said the same about the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Question: Olga Bataman, RT. And I would like to follow up on what you just mentioned. Thank you so much for highlighting that so many countries of Africa and of the global South are severely under-represented in key UN structures. So, first of all, is your organization going to address this issue in the near future or in the long run? And for example, just recently, Nigeria protested that there was a UN event arranged by the United States where Nigeria was discussed but Nigerian delegation was not even invited, and Nicki Minaj was speaking at that event. So how can it happen that issues concerning individual states can be discussed at UN forums or events without their participation? Thank you so much for your time.
Secretary-General: Well, there might have been that event; it's the first time that I hear about it. We have a very important summit in Nigeria on counterterrorism, so it's not our intention at all to make Nigeria not present in all our discussions. And for us, I believe if you look at what is today, the senior management of the UN, you will see that the senior management is quite balanced globally. And at the same time, if you look at the programmes of action of most of the UN entities, they are essentially focused on the interest of developing countries.
But there is one problem that I cannot solve, because when people look at the UN, many people do not see the humanitarian work that we do, sometimes in extremely difficult circumstances. Four hundred of our staff were killed in Gaza. People do not see our effort in pushing for the reform of the international financial architecture. People do not see our efforts in pushing for climate action and climate justice or our efforts in relation to gender equality. People see the Security Council. That's what appears in the headlines, and obviously the Security Council is something created long ago and represents a world that no longer exists. There are no permanent representatives from Africa or from Latin America and there are three European government permanent representatives - the UK, France, and Russia. People might argue, but Russia is essentially a European country. It has also an Asian part, but its centre is in Europe. I mean, this is totally at odds with the reality of today's world. And so, one thing I can guarantee is that in the action of the Secretariat of the UN, we will be doing everything to correct inequalities and injustices and to guarantee effective representation to developing countries, but we have not the power to reform the Security Council or to reform the IMF or the World Bank. All this depends on the will of Member States, and usually those that have power are quite reluctant in accepting a re-distribution of that power.
Question from New Central Television in Nigeria: My question is simple - how do you think the world leaders who are gathered here this weekend, how do you think they should address the issue of debt relief for developing countries, especially in Africa? Because that's one of the big issues that African countries are facing today. Thank you, sir.
Secretary-General: We have created the experts' group on debt relief. They presented their recommendations. I just mentioned it in my intervention. I know that President Ramaphosa also has created a group on debt relief. And by the way, the chair of that group, Trevor Manuel, was also a member of our group, and what is interesting is that the conclusions in that group are very similar. It is clear that we have, first of all, to look into countries in distress and have an effective debt relief for those countries. And on the other hand, we must act in different ways through the markets dealing with credit rating agencies and taking initiatives in this regard, and through the intervention of the multilateral development banks. We need to reduce the cost of capital, and we need to make sure that there is equity in the criteria when countries borrow. There are European countries with a debt that is much higher than the debt of many African countries, but they still get access to the markets with very low interest rates. And there are African countries that have solid finance and good development perspectives that still only have access to credit at very high rates. So, we need to organize things in order to create the conditions and there are ways to do it through guarantees, through the involvement of multilateral development banks with private finance being those that accept the first risk. There's a number of concrete measures that can be made in order to reduce the cost of capital, which would allow for lower indebtedness of countries. And at the same time, as I said, the mechanism that was put in place for debt relief has been acting too slow and it needs a very meaningful reform for countries that indeed need a reduction of their debt to have a relatively rapid mechanism to be able to achieve that result.
Question: Thank you, Mr. Secretary-General. My first question is about Climate issue. So, do you think that COP30 in Belém was a success or a failure without some G20 members? The last question is can you address the process issue to G20 leaders in relation to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, knowing clearly that the humanitarian situation is getting worse? Thank you.
Secretary-General: It is very clear that everywhere in the world, because temperatures are rising and they will rise above 1.5 [degrees] at least for some periods - so-called overshooting is inevitable, that adaptation became a major priority and one of the things I tried to fight in my presence in the COP was to achieve a guarantee that the adaptation funding will triple until 2030. And so this is one of the very important things that is being discussed in the COP.
But it is also clear that it does not make sense to spend more money to correct the impact of disasters and not to do everything possible to avoid the disasters, and to avoid the disasters means a drastic cut in the emissions. And so, with the same insistence in which I asked for tripling the funding for adaptation, I asked for a clear indication of how we are going to move the transition away from fossil fuels into renewables, and at the same time how - taking into account that the national term contributions presented by states still leads to 2.3 to 2.5 degrees limit - how can we intensify our efforts to have a much more drastic reduction of emissions in the next few years.
Now, the COP is confronted with these things and there are obviously contradictory interest in the COP as there are in the G20. The Brazilian Presidency has been conducting it's very effectively as the South African Presidency has been conducting the G20 work very effectively, I hope that in both cases they will be able to obtain meaningful results.
On the DRC, the question is simple. We must have peace in the DRC. So, there are negotiations taking place. There was an agreement in Washington, and there was an agreement, a partial agreement, in Doha. But the fact is that people go on fighting.
So, I think our priority is [to] see a stop to fighting to have a complete ceasefire and simultaneously to make progress in the negotiations of Washington and Doha to have a political solution that allows, as I mentioned in my intervention, for the territorial integrity of the DRC to be respected but at the same time to address some of the root causes of conflict that exist. And obviously, it is important to say [that] one of the best ways to avoid conflict is through development.
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