G20: Final Declaration with minimum climate commitments

The leaders of the 20 strongest economies in the world, in their Final Declaration, call for “substantial and effective” action to limit the rise in world temperature to 1.5 degrees Celsius, but offer minimal tangible commitments.

The result of days of tough negotiations between diplomats leaves a huge task to take place at the wider United Nations Climate Summit in Glasgow, where most of the G20 leaders will travel directly from Rome.

The Group of 20, which includes Brazil, China, India, Germany and the United States, is responsible for about 80% of the world’s greenhouse gases.

The Declaration states that existing national plans for ways to reduce emissions should be strengthened “if necessary”, and includes a commitment to eliminate funding for coal-fired power generation by the end of the year.

However, it does not include any specific reference to 2050 – the deadline for achieving the zero carbon target.

“We recognize that the effects of climate change at 1.5 degrees Celsius are much less than at 2 degrees Celsius. Maintaining 1.5 degrees Celsius soon requires substantial and effective action and commitment from all countries,” he said.

The 1.5 degree Celsius threshold is what UN experts say should be achieved to avoid a dramatic acceleration of extreme weather events such as droughts, storms and floods, and to that end they themselves suggest achieving this. of zero emissions by 2050.

Leaders were content to acknowledge the vital importance of achieving zero carbon emissions by the middle of this century.

China, the world’s largest polluter, has set a target for 2060, and other major polluters such as India and Russia have also not pledged to meet the 2050 target.

UN experts say that even if the current national plans are fully implemented, the world is heading for a rise in global temperature to 2.7 degrees Celsius, which would be accompanied by a catastrophic acceleration of extreme weather events such as droughts, floods and storms.

The declaration includes a commitment to cut funding for coal-fired power generation by the end of the year, but does not set a specific date for cutting off coal-fired power generation, saying it would be done “as soon as possible”.

Also, the G20 leaders did not set a specific date for the abolition of the fossil fuel financing, saying that they will try to achieve it “in the medium term”.

Regarding methane, which has stronger but shorter-lasting effects than carbon dioxide on global warming, their wording is weaker than a previous statement.