By Wendell Roelf, Leika Kihara and Kopano Gumbi
CAPE TOWN (Reuters) -South Africa voiced dismay on Thursday that Group of 20 talks it hosted on global economic issues ended without consensus, after top officials from several countries skipped it and delegates remained far apart on issues such as climate finance.
The two-day G20 meeting of finance ministers and central bankers in Cape Town failed to come up with a joint communique. However a “chair’s summary” issued by the host said participants “reiterated the commitment to resisting protectionism.”
The summary added they had “supported a rules-based, non-discriminatory, fair, open, inclusive, equitable, sustainable and transparent multilateral trading system,” using several words the Trump administration has already strongly objected to.
South Africa had hoped to make the G20 a platform for putting pressure on rich countries to do more to tackle climate change, to give more towards poorer countries’ transitions to green energy and to reform a financial system that favours investment banks at the expense of poor sovereign debtors.
But the talks were overshadowed by the absence of several key finance chiefs – such as from the United States, China, India and Japan – and foreign aid cuts by major economies like the United States and Britain, against a backdrop of rising geopolitical tensions.
South African Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana said he was “not happy” the G20 meeting could not issue a joint communique.
“I’m not going to (name) … any specific country, but climate issues are becoming a challenge for the first time,” he told Reuters after issuing the G20 summary.
“I think there is a view that we should prioritise other things than necessary climate financing.”
In an earlier news conference, he said that though there was a difference of opinion on the way forward on climate action: “there has been general agreement against protectionism and economic fragmentation.”
Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda told reporters after the meeting that “the broader G20 view was that if downside risks like geopolitical tension and supply chain disruptions materialize, that could hamper the G20 goal of achieving sustainable, balanced global growth.”
G20 countries account for 85% of global gross domestic product and 75% of international trade. The grouping was formed in response to the 1999 Asian financial crisis to improve cooperation in addressing shocks across national borders.
The chair’s summary has become a feature of multilateral meetings in which participants do not reach a formal consensus.
On the global economy, the summary noted that growth patterns varied across economies and said various risks and trends had been discussed.
“Inflation has receded, supported by well-calibrated monetary policies and the unwinding of supply shocks, although progress has varied across countries,” the summary said.
(Reporting by Leika Kihara, Kopano Gumbi, Wendell Roelf, Duncan Miriri and Andy Bruce; Additional reporting by Tannur Anders and Sfundo Parakozov; Writing by Tim Cocks and Alexander Winning; Editing by Hugh Lawson and Rod Nickel)
