G20 backs stronger climate action, but won’t end
coal use
Summit sends mixed signal to COP26 climate talks
opening in Glasgow.
G20 leaders did not agree on targets for coal phaseout
BY KARL
MATHIESEN AND JACOPO BARIGAZZI
October 31,
2021 5:30 pm
ROME — G20
leaders committed to stronger action than ever before to limit global warming
at a summit in Rome on Sunday, but failed to strike a deal on phasing out coal.
The signal
from the leaders of the world's top economies was being watched closely from
the COP26 U.N. climate summit, which was beginning in Glasgow, Scotland at the
same time as the deal was concluded.
“The
decisions we make today will have a direct impact on the success of the Glasgow
summit and, ultimately, on our ability to tackle the climate crisis,” Italian
Prime Minister Mario Draghi, the G20 host, told leaders.
Speaking
from Glasgow, Alok Sharma, the U.K. minister who is president of COP26, said he
was "cautiously hopeful about what I’m hearing from Rome … I know
discussions haven’t been easy." But he added: "Countries are
clear-sighted on the urgency of the science."
The G20
text, which POLITICO obtained, commits leaders “to take further action this
decade and to formulate, implement, update and enhance, where necessary, our
2030" contributions. They agreed that was the minimum required to keep the
lower 1.5 degrees Celsius temperature goal of the Paris Agreement “within
reach.”
That wasn't
enough for U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres, who appeared downbeat as he
headed for Glasgow. “I leave Rome with my hopes unfulfilled — but at least they
are not buried," he said.
The result
of G20 leaves space for a major fight over which countries need to raise their
climate targets during this decade and by how much. Europe and the U.S. have
put pressure on China and India throughout the buildup to COP26. But Beijing
and New Delhi have responded by saying that the onus is on wealthy countries to
do more.
During a
discussion among the G20 leaders, some clearly felt the weight of history upon
them. “The fall of the Roman Empire teaches us that when things start to go
downhill, they do it very quickly,” said British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
In the
agreement, the leaders said they acknowledged the “key relevance” of reaching
net-zero global emissions “by or around mid-century.” That accelerates a deal
that all countries made in Paris in 2015 to reach that goal in the second half
of the 21st century.
According
to the G20 official, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who was attending her
final meeting of the group of 20 leading economies, said the meeting was “of
crucial importance, it takes place on the eve of COP26. We are sending a very
clear message: We are even more ambitious than the Paris Agreement.”
The G20 is
a diverse group of countries that account for around 80 percent of global
emissions and have widely differing interests when it comes to climate policy.
While there
were positive signals from a group that has typically struggled to find common
ground on this issue, they did not commit to key goals on coal and methane
reductions that would be necessary if the 1.5-degree target is to be met.
The leaders
agreed to end international public financing of new coal power by the end of
this year and spur a shift away from polluting fuels by boosting international
finance for green projects.
But they
failed to reach a deal on phasing out coal power or to stop building new coal
plants.
According
to a G20 official, the deal was finalized on Sunday morning after all-night
talks among diplomats.
Big
exporters and consumers of coal — such as China, Australia, India and Russia —
resisted a push from European and British diplomats for the group to agree that
they would stop using the most polluting fossil fuel.
The leaders
recognized for the first time that methane emissions are a significant climate
problem and tackling them is a cost-effective fix, but rejected a proposal to
cut them during this decade.
Developing
countries have been dismayed by a recent report that developed countries — many
of which are in the G20 — have missed an agreed deadline to supply $100 billion
per year in support for climate action to poorer nations by 2020. The G20
committed to meeting that goal “as soon as possible” and said it was expected
“no later than 2023.”
In another
key signal for developing countries ahead of COP26, the group recognized the
need for more balance between funding for cutting emissions and financing efforts
to cope with the impact of climate change. Right now, the bulk of funding goes
to the former.
But
Greenpeace International boss Jennifer Morgan said the leaders had “simply
failed to meet the moment.”
“Now they
move onto Glasgow where there is still a chance to seize a historic
opportunity, but the likes of Australia and Saudi Arabia need to be
marginalized, while rich countries need to finally grasp that the key to unlock
COP26 is trust,” she said.
After the
conclusion of the summit, Johnson told reporters: “We’ve had a reasonable
G20" but “it is not enough.”
“If we
don't act now the Paris Agreement will be looked at in the future not as the
moment humanity opened its eyes to the problem, but as the moment we flinched
and turned away," he said.
This
article has been updated with comments from U.N. Secretary-General António
Guterres and U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
Sem comentários:
Enviar um comentário