G20: Lack of fixed climate targets leaves ‘hopes unfulfilled’

Rome, Nov. 1 (BNA): Some G20 leaders leaving a summit in Rome hailed this year’s meeting as a “success”, but many – including the heads of the United Nations, the United States and Britain – considered its downfall. Below expectations on climate change.

The German news agency (dpa) reported that there was neither a target date for achieving carbon neutrality nor for ending coal-fired power generation in the joint declaration that followed the summit.

The net-zero emissions target in the Italian government’s G-20 Final Communiqué referred only to achieving it “by or around the middle of the century”.

“We will do everything we can to avoid relentless building of new coal power generation capacity, taking into account national conditions, with a view to accelerating the transition away from coal to meet the timeframes aligned with the goals [2015] Paris Agreement.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was unconvinced, writing on Twitter: “While I welcome the G20’s recommitment to global solutions, I leave Rome and my hopes unfulfilled – but at least they are not buried.”

“Onward to COP 26,” he added, referring to the major climate summit that opened on Sunday in Glasgow, Scotland.

US President Joe Biden blamed China and Russia for vague wording in the summit outcome, saying “Russia and China have basically not shown up on any commitments to deal with climate change.”

“There’s a reason people are disappointed with that,” Biden said. “I was disappointed in myself.”

Activists who had hoped in the G-20 nations – which account for the vast majority of global GDP and 80 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions – to provide a strong climate commitment to set the tone for COP26, were outraged.

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The lack of commitment left him “speechless”, Oxfam’s Jörn Kalinsky said: “We are heading towards a global warming of 2.7°C and a catastrophic development of the climate crisis.”

“The hesitation and discord appearing here threaten to set our planet on fire,” he said.

China, the largest emitter of greenhouse gases by far, has reaffirmed its goals to allow its emissions to rise through 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2060, with President Xi Jinping calling on rich countries to “set an example” first. Russia has made a similar commitment on net zero emissions by 2060.

India, the fourth largest emitter after China, the United States and the European Union, also refuses to commit to net zero emissions, suggesting that the responsibility lies with the richer countries.

Oxfam climate expert Jan Koelzig said Germany and the European Union were still unwilling to “pay their fair share”.

“The main problem with international climate policy is that industrialized nations are not prepared to contribute equitably to global climate protection, based on their historical responsibility for causing the crisis and their economic strength,” he said.

According to current national action plans, emissions will increase by 16 percent by 2030 – although a 45 percent reduction will be necessary to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius per year, as agreed in Paris.

“We have now reached a point where we can no longer negotiate on the climate,” said Frederic Roeder of Global Citizen. He complained that Rome saw “half actions rather than concrete actions”.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the COP26 conference should go much further than the G20 countries can do.

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“Only 12 members of the G20 are committed to reaching net zero by 2050 or earlier; barely half of us have presented improved plans for how to cut carbon emissions since the Paris summit in 2015.

“We have also failed to meet our commitment to provide $100 billion annually to support developing countries to grow in a clean and sustainable way,” Johnson was quoted as saying by the press agency.

However, some leaders at the summit praised the results of the summit.

“This summit was a success,” said Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi, referring to the G20’s commitment to the 1.5°C climate target.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the summit outcome was a “good signal” for the World Climate Conference in Glasgow, signaling the United States’ return to climate consensus under President Joe Biden.

Merkel herself received a warm farewell – and a bouquet of flowers – from other G-20 leaders at what was her last such summit.

Besides the climate crisis, the coronavirus pandemic and global tax reform were also on the agenda during the two-day meeting.

Italy, this year’s G20 host, was one of the countries hardest hit by the Covid-19 outbreak in Europe last year.

However, development organizations have also criticized the group for failing to make concrete decisions as well regarding the pandemic.

World Vision’s Fiona Oelendaal said the goal of achieving a global vaccination rate of 40 percent by the end of the year was “delusional”.

With regard to taxes, countries called for the rapid development of systems and tools for the global minimum tax rate. The goal is to ensure that the reform takes effect in 2023.

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