India on Saturday joined other G20 countries in pushing ahead with a joint declaration, which stressed climate change, despite the US boycott of the summit hosted by South Africa in Johannesburg.

The declaration, Indian officials said, carried forward the direction given to the grouping at the New Delhi summit of 2023.

“The declaration used the kind of language long disliked by the Trump administration: stressing the seriousness of climate change and the need to better adapt to it, praising ambitious targets to boost renewable energy and noting the punishing levels of debt service suffered by poor countries,” Reuters reported from Johannesburg.

“The mention of climate change was a snub to US President Donald Trump, who doubts the scientific consensus that global warming is caused by human activities. US officials had indicated they would oppose any reference to it in the declaration.”

In the absence of US intervention, the joint declaration called for climate finance to be scaled up from billions to trillions of dollars.

Trump had decided to skip the G20 summit — the first ever held in Africa — over differences with Pretoria on the agenda and alleged mistreatment of white people in South Africa by the Cyril Ramaphosa government.

South Africa has denied the allegation of discriminating against white people.

In his remarks at the session on “Inclusive and Sustainable Economic Growth Leaving No One Behind: Building Our Economies”, Prime Minister Narendra Modi presented India’s proposal for a Global Traditional Knowledge Repository under the G20.

To be built along the lines of New Delhi’s Indian Knowledge Systems Initiative, the Repository is to serve as a global platform for traditional knowledge with the aim of preserving humanity’s collective wisdom for future generations.

Modi also proposed a G20 Africa Skills Multiplier Initiative that aims to create a million certified trainers across the continent to enable large-scale skill development.

Another Indian proposal involved the creation of a Global Health Response Team of trained medical experts from G20 countries that will respond to health emergencies and natural disasters.

Modi proposed a G20 initiative to break the drug-terror nexus. Apart from addressing the health and related issues arising out of drug addiction, this global effort will target a major source of terror financing, the Prime Minister said.

Sources claimed India had managed to get the G20 South African Summit: Leaders Declaration to echo key outcomes of the Indian G20 presidency, apart from ensuring that it reflected the issues and priorities of the Global South.

The important takeaways from India’s point of view include the condemnation of terrorism in all its forms and manifestations; an acknowledgment of the transformative potential of digital public infrastructure; and more ambitious language than last year on climate finance with a call to scale it up from billions to trillions of dollars.