Introduction
On 24 October 2024, the G20 Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Finance, Environment and Climate, as well as central bank governors, met in Washington DC, at the conclusion of the G20 Task Force on a Global Mobilization against Climate Change (TF–CLIMA). The Ministerial Statement issued boldly states that the ministers and central bank governors present are 1Ministerial Statement, The G20 Taskforce on a Global Mobilization against Climate Change (24 October 2024, issued by G20 Brasil 2024) (emphasis added).
determined to lead bold, timely and structural actions in our national economies and in the international financial system with a view to accelerating and scaling up climate action, in synergy with sustainable development priorities and efforts to eradicate poverty and hunger.
Paragraph 18 affirms a commitment to 2Ministerial Statement, G20 Taskforce on Global Mobilization, 24 October 2024 (emphasis added).
strong, country-led national transition planning that underpins the ambition and implementation of our respective NDCs [Nationally Determined Contributions], which are and will remain the main vehicle for communicating our countries’ efforts to the global fight against climate change. We support the voluntary use of country platforms based on strong country ownership, flexible and well adapted to national circumstances as one tool to help translate mitigation, adaptation and resilience-building policies and roadmaps into concrete investment plans supported by both public and private resources, to accelerate action during this critical decade and beyond and to contribute to the Agenda 20 and Sustainable Developments Goals (SDGs) and relevant multilateral agreements.
As the holder of the 2025 presidency of the G20, South Africa is well positioned to provide global leadership with respect to (a) ‘accelerating and scaling up climate action’ as articulated in South Africa’s various commitments to a ‘just energy transition’ (JET); and (b) ‘country-led national transition planning’ reflected in its country platform – the Just Energy Transition Investment Plan (JET-IP). Indeed, South Africa was the first to explicitly include the JET in its NDC, embed developmental criteria in renewable energy procurement and publish a country platform.
The aim of this synthesis report is to strengthen the collective commitment of the G20 ministers and central bankers as articulated in the Ministerial Statement referred to above. This includes the focus on what the statement refers to as ‘structural actions in our national economies and in the international financial system’ as articulated in country platforms. During the lead-up to the G20 meeting in 2025, three standing working groups of the G20, namely the Environment and Climate Sustainability Working Group, the Sustainable Finance Working Group and the Energy Transitions Working Group, each published issue notes reflecting global perspectives on the main priorities for engagement. While the G20 focuses on global joint action, the Brazilian presidency placed more emphasis on bottom-up country platforms, which provide all countries, but Global South countries in particular, with the opportunity to articulate priority country-level actions that are aligned with – or even go beyond – global priorities. The South African presidency has continued to emphasise country platforms as a methodology for bottom-up forward planning within the overall framework of global priorities.
About 22 countries have either launched or are in the process of drafting their own country platforms for presentation at COP 30. A further 30 countries are considering or preparing their platforms. Not all of these countries are G20 members; nevertheless, the G20 can provide effective leadership in defining the purpose and structure of country platforms. At the centre of these platforms are approaches to financing climate actions and the JET. However, none of the ambitious goals articulated by the G20 working groups in their respective issue notes can be achieved if the requisite scale and types of finance are unavailable. It is essential to understand country platforms as locally crafted documents that express country priorities and funding requirements.
