First G20 Sherpa meetings 'robust'

10 December 2024

South Africa’s Sherpa for the G20 and Director-General of the Department of International Relations and Cooperation, Zane Dangor, has described the first Sherpa meeting of South Africa’s Presidency of the G20 as “very successful” and “robust”.

The first Sherpa meeting was held at Investec in Sandton on Monday and Tuesday, this week. 

“We’ve just completed the first Sherpa meetings, so it’s day two of plenty. It was a very successful Sherpa meeting. The discussions were robust but very inclusive.

Speaking at a media briefing on Tuesday, following the conclusion of the two-day meeting, Dangor was upbeat that the discussions were fruitful. 

“We started yesterday [Monday] with [International Relations and Cooperation Minister Ronald] Lamola opening the Sherpa meeting and we outlined… that the theme of our [G20] Presidency would be ‘Solidarity, Equality and Sustainability’. Minister Lamola just outlined, for example, how we are going to amplify the voices of the Global South as part of our Presidency,” he said. 

According to Dangor, during the first Sherpa Track meeting, discussions centred on various subjects, including “significant discussions” for a review of the "G20 at 20".

“[There was] support for the fact that this is timely, that we need to assess what the purpose of the G20 is, what is the mandate of the G20 and what are the agreements that have been made on the various tracks over the last 20 years, what has been achieved and what has enabled that achievement.

“We must also look at what has not been achieved and what are the disabling factors. A methodology for that review will be developed so that we ask the right questions, get the right answers, and do the proper analysis, so that by the time we get to the end of our Presidency [of the G20] in November, we can give them clear recommendations on how to improve the G20,” he said.

The South African Sherpa emphasised that the review “does not formalise the G20”.

“The G20 members seek to remain informal so that levels of flexibility are maintained and also to make sure that it doesn’t seek to compete with formal multilateral institutions like the [United Nations] and the [African Union] and others where you have formal secretariats,” he said.

Other subject matters given much attention include mobilising finance for a Just Energy Transition, as well as food security.

“This has just been reinforced by the Sherpas that this is a very important issue that we must focus on in the working groups, and that the Sherpas must also delve deeper into the issues of climate change and financing the green transition.

“[There were] recommendations… on how we can ensure that we focus on food security at the regional and global level, thereby complimenting what [previous G20 President] Brazil has already started,” Dangor said. 

SAnews.gov.za