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BRICS countries promote the interests of the Global South. The G20 Summit in Johannesburg

AfricaThe BRICSEconomy
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© Khudyakova L.S.
Source: https://www.imemo.ru/publications/policy-briefs/text/brics-countries-advance-the-interests-of-the-global-south-towards-the-g20-summit-in-johannesburg
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On October 15-16, 2025, the 4th meeting of the Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors of the G20 countries took place in Washington on the sidelines of the annual session of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Group. This was the last meeting before the November summit in Johannesburg, which concludes the twenty-year cycle of the association's rotational chairmanship. The first G20 summit was held in Washington in November 2008 at the height of the global financial crisis and initiated a global reform of financial regulation. The G20, which was created in 1999 in response to the Asian financial crisis, had met at the inter-ministerial level.

Another feature of the current summit is the fact that for the first time it will be held on the African continent and concludes another cycle, smaller in terms of time, but not in importance: a four-year cycle, when the G20 presidency was carried out by the BRICS countries, which allowed to shift the focus on the development agenda. In 2022, Indonesia presided, in 2023 – India, in 2024 – Brazil and finally in 2025 – South Africa. Such a timetable allowed the BRICS countries to pursue continuity and consistency in promoting the interests of the Global South and equal dialogue with the Global North. The period of India’s presidency was marked by a major event – the African Union became the full 21st member of the G20.

The goal of all four BRICS chairmanships is to provide financing for sustainable, inclusive economic growth and social justice. It is no coincidence that the slogans of the recent G20 summits include equality, solidarity, inclusion, multilateralism and sustainable economic growth. South Africa, in prioritizing its chairmanship, had built on the legacy of the previous three years, while taking into account the urgent interests of African states. Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos in January 2025, President Ramaphosa highlighted the need to increase access to financing for development, including increasing resilience to natural disasters and addressing the effects of natural disasters that affect least developed countries. And here we need to mobilize resources from a wide range of sources: official development assistance, various international, climate and social development. «The green greens» funds, resources of multilateral development banks, including the World Bank and regional banks, as well as attracting private capital taking into account guarantees from interstate organizations. (1) The issue of investing in adaptation and increasing resistance to climate change (A&R – Adaptation and Resilience) will also be discussed within the framework of the COP-30 (Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change), which will be held in Brazil in November 2025, the SOR is another platform where BRICS countries and other countries of the Global South coordinate their policies.

Special attention in the discussions of the financial track is paid to the need for modern economic and geopolitical conditions to more actively use the resources of multilateral development banks (MDBs). Initiatives to modernize and increase the capital of ICBMs to finance development were previously put forward by India in 2023 and Brazil in 2024. At the third meeting of the Finance Ministers and Governors of the Central Bank of the G20 countries in Durban (South Africa) on July 17-18, 2025, the need to strengthen the mechanism for reporting and monitoring the progress achieved within the framework of the Roadmap for the Development of ICBMs was discussed. South Africa also supported the requirement «and fair justice.» Just Transition, which requires improved quality and increased funding for climate projects, as well as open access «Green green green.» Technology for the Global South.

At the Durban meeting, the discussion focused on ways to address the debt vulnerability of low- and middle-income countries, which is the cause of low economic growth in these countries, the inability to invest, including in the social sphere. The G20 countries in the communiqué at the end of the meeting stressed their readiness to further strengthen the implementation of the Common Framework Document in this area (ODA) and endorsed the Note on the Assessment of Debt Restructuring Steps under the ORD. The use of SDR resources exceeding the equivalent of $100 billion was also approved. U.S., $113.8 billion in ongoing voluntary commitments from 35 countries have been announced to the countries in need. (2) The fourth meeting in Washington adopted a special Declaration on the continuation of efforts aimed at solving the debt problem of developing countries.
The issues raised in President Ramaphosa’s speeches, as well as other South African officials, are reflected in the Roadmap presented by the Sustainable Finance Working Group, which provides key findings and recommendations to achieve three priorities: strengthening global infrastructure for sustainable financing; increasing financing for climate change adaptation; and developing carbon credit markets. The main recommendations include: strengthening cooperation between climate funds and ICBMs; exploring opportunities to create a transparent, stable, enabling climate to increase private investment in adaptation; and promoting cooperation to develop and improve carbon credit market performance.[3]

It should be noted that neither the approval of any initiatives at inter-ministerial meetings, meetings of the G20 working groups, nor even the inclusion of summits in the declaration guarantee their implementation in practice. Decisions of the G20, which is a platform association, do not have legal force, but only legal significance, i.e. voluntary moral obligation of member countries. For many years, the G20 has been criticized for its poor performance. Nevertheless, the G-20 remains the only platform where the leading countries of the Global North and the Global South meet to discuss pressing issues of global development. Therefore, it is important for the countries of the Global South to use this platform both to consolidate their position and to promote it in the international community.

Notes:
[1] https://tvbrics.com/news/yuar-predstavila-prioritety-predsedatelstva-v-g20-na-vsemirnom-ekonomicheskom-forume/?ysclid=mgl2ikutwl347803448 [2] https://g20.org/g20-media/3rd-finance-ministers-central-bank-governors-meeting/[3] Finance Track Chairs Summary 4th finance ministers & central bank governors meeting Washington, D.C. 15-16 october 2025. https://www.mof.go.jp/english/international_policy/convention/g20/20251016.pdf