G20 Foreign Ministers Meeting: Discussions on the global geopolitical situation

Your excellency, Minister Lamola,

Excellencies,

Let me begin by thanking South Africa for hosting this G20. It is an honour and a joy to be here today.

We meet at very testing times, but let us take a step back and consider where we are in the arc of history. This year marks the final chapter in a remarkable four-year cycle - the first time the G20 presidency has resided continuously in the Global South. From Indonesia to India to Brazil, and now to South Africa, we have witnessed the changing face of global leadership and have had a glimpse of the future.

These last four years have proven that multipolarity can indeed strengthen, and not weaken, multilateralism. That it can be a force of inclusion, dis-concentration, and de-centralization. That the right choice is to have multipolarity WITH multilateralism.

Of course we confront great challenges. A post-pandemic, “new low growth normal” is setting in, marked by very uneven recoveries among regions and income groups, with the Least Developed Countries having per-capita incomes one tenth below their pre-COVID trajectory. At these rates, 622 million people will still remain in extreme poverty by 2030.

We are also worried about uncertainty halting investment, and a chain reaction unfolding: trade disruptions leading to inflation, leading to exchange rate volatility and higher-for-longer interest rates, leading ultimately to more countries having to default on their development to not default on their debt. Increases in food insecurity together with the impact of climate change also risks unleashing widespread instability.

But even within this difficult landscape, we see opportunity. From critical minerals to digitalization and the energy transition, from trade in services to green goods. Open regionalism and South-South trade represent also bright spots of dynamism, with initiatives like the African Continental Free Trade Area, ASEAN, or the UE-Mercosur Agreement, showing how regional and inter-regional integration can complement global engagement and create new channels of growth and cooperation.

Excellencies,

UNCTAD has consistently advocated for reforming global governance, the international financial architecture and international trade rules to allow developing countries the space they need for structural transformation and to have a voice. We believe in a world with better rules, not a world without them. Maybe now is an opportunity to do this, as we answer the many challenges we confront.

Your excellencies,

South Africa knows about transformation. About the delicate balance between preserving what works and changing what doesn't. About building bridges while crossing them.

The transition that gave birth to modern South Africa showed us something precious: that even in the most difficult circumstances, dialogue can prevail over division. This is also the spirit of the UN Charter.

This is the spirit we need today. And we are in the right place, at the right time, to carry it forth.

I thank you.