G20 Durban

15 July 2025

Durban, South Africa | 15 July 2025 – Ahead of the final G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting in Durban (17–18 July), more than 180 organisations from across the Global South as well as international allies, have released a unified open letter urging South Africa’s President to follow the growing pressure for radical action from G20 countries to rewrite the global economic rules on debt cancellation and taxing the super rich.

The letter is coordinated by the Fight Inequality Alliance, and backed by groups from across Africa, Asia and Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as international groups including Greenpeace International, 350.org, Amnesty International and Oxfam International. Their calls are backed by economists, lawyers and even some millionaires themselves.

The Presidency of the G20 — held for the fourth consecutive year in the Global South, and now for the first time on African soil — comes at a time when global debt is mounting, the climate crisis is accelerating and inequalities within and between countries are increasing.

In South Africa, debt-service costs are projected to reach over USD 20.7 billion in 2024/25 — significantly more than the country’s public health budget of USD 14.7 billion. Global South countries are now facing a high and growing cost of external public debt. Since 2020, Global South regions have been borrowing at rates that are two to four times higher than those for the United States.

“People are saying it’s time to draw a red line to the era of billionaires. The global rules need to be rewritten, and it can’t be held to ransom by whether the USA decides to show up to international meetings. The pressure is growing on President Ramaphosa to lead a G20 in South Africa that really does something for the 99% - taxing the super rich and cancelling the debt,” said Jenny Ricks, General Secretary, Fight Inequality Alliance

More than 180 civil society organisations from across Africa, Asia, and Latin America and global allies are asking President Cyril Ramaphosa to use this moment to push the G20 towards:

1. Taxing the super-rich to redistribute extreme wealth and fund public services
2. Cancelling the debts that are crippling countries’ ability to invest in people and the planet, and
3. Establishing new global financial rules that put people and the planet before profit.

The call to tax the super-rich is no longer limited to activists and civil society. It is now supported across society — from economists and former heads of state, to the Vatican and even millionaires. Public sentiment across G20 countries strongly supports taxing extreme wealth. Multiple international polls confirm that majorities of people — across class, geography, and ideology — believe the richest should pay more to fund public goods and tackle inequality.

The letter is being delivered to the South Africa Government and the signatories include national networks of trade unions, feminist movements, climate justice groups, debt activists, and youth organisations.

“President Ramaphosa supported a global commitment in Rio to tax the wealth of the 1% and backed international tax cooperation. But since then, the G20 presidency has failed to turn these words into action. As the world meets in Durban, we have an opportunity now to ensure our leaders hold to their commitments. We, the world’s 99%, already support a UN Tax Convention. It’s time they joined us in rewriting the global rules to serve the many, not protect the wealth of a few.” said Khaliel Moses, Senior Public Finance Campaigner, 350.org.

Download the Open Letter here: English, Spanish, French and Portuguese

For media enquiries and interviews please write to: Vijai Kao, Communications and Media Lead, Fight Inequality Alliance, vijai.kao@fightinequality.org

About Fight Inequality Alliance

The Fight Inequality Alliance (FIA) is a growing global movement of people, organisations, and social movements on the frontlines of inequality united in the struggle to address inequality in all its forms. Together, we fight for a world where power and wealth are redistributed to create a just, equal, and sustainable society. To learn more, visit www.fightinequality.org.