The G20 summit ended in Rome without the world’s major economies making more specific commitments to deal with the threat of global warming, on the eve of the start of COP26, the great round of negotiating climate goals that began this Sunday (31) .
But the meeting in the Italian capital served for US President Joe Biden to open new fronts of multilateral engagement, with new attempts to revive the nuclear agreement with Iran and reconciliation with Turkey, in addition to the truce in the trade war with the Union after years of tensions cultivated by former President Donald Trump.
Biden also attempted a rapprochement with French President Emmanuel Macron after the diplomatic friction generated by the agreement to sell nuclear submarines to Australia, which canceled a previous treaty articulated by Paris.
joint declaration on climate
Responsible for about 80% of global greenhouse gas emissions in the world, the G20 countries drafted a final declaration on Sunday (31) calling for “significant and effective” action to limit global warming to 1.5°C , but offers few concrete commitments.
The result of days of tough negotiations between diplomats leaves a lot of work to be done at the broader UN climate summit in Scotland, COP26, where most of the group’s leaders from the world’s top 20 economies will fly directly from Rome.
The bill includes a pledge to suspend international funding for coal-fired power generation by the end of this year, but has not set a date for countries to phase out coal, merely promising to do so “as soon as possible. possible”.
The G20 has also not set a date for phasing out fossil fuel subsidies, saying they will strive to do so “in the medium term”. In the agreement, the leaders recognized “the fundamental importance” of zeroing net carbon emissions “by the middle of this century”. Italy, which hosted the summit, pushed to include the 2050 date.
China, the world’s biggest carbon emitter, has set a later target date of 2060, and other big polluters such as India and Russia have not committed to 2050.
Agreement between US and EU after tariff war
US President Joe Biden and European Commission head Ursula von der Leyen celebrated “a new era” in transatlantic relations after reaching an agreement to lift additional tariffs on European steel and aluminum imports imposed by former president Donald Trump.
“We restore trust and communication,” said the President of the European Executive.
The agreement will allow tax-free entry into the United States of a limited amount of steel and aluminum from Europe. In return, the EU will cancel retaliatory measures on products such as Harley-Davidson motorcycles and Kentucky bourbon.
“The reset button was successfully pressed under the Biden administration, in large part due to our common will to forge a new trade agenda,” said EU Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis.
Pandemic and Vaccines
The pandemic, especially the inequality in the distribution of vaccines against Covid-19 in the world, was one of the themes discussed at the summit. Group leaders said they would increase the supply of immunizations to poor countries, promising to “avoid export restrictions and increase transparency and visibility in delivery.” Concrete deadlines, however, were not specified.
The G20 stated that it will contribute to achieving the global vaccination goals for at least 40% of the population of all countries by the end of 2021 and 70% by mid-2022, as recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO).
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau pledged to provide, by the end of 2022, at least 200 million doses to the Covax Facility, an international consortium created to facilitate access to immunizers. Canada also said it will donate US$ 15 million to help increase vaccine production in South Africa.
By videoconference, the leaders of China, Xi Jinping, and Russia, Vladimir Putin, complained about the lack of recognition of vaccines among the G20 countries.
Putin said that poor countries’ lack of access to vaccines is also due to “unfair competition”, “protectionism” and the fact that “some states, especially those of the G20, are unwilling to mutually recognize vaccines and vaccination certificates “.
From Beijing, Xi also called for “mutual recognition of vaccines,” according to his statements broadcast by state broadcaster CCTV.
Neither the United States nor the European Medicines Agency has approved Chinese or Russian vaccines. For their part, Russia and China do not recognize foreign vaccines.
Conciliation between Biden and Erdogan
Amid diplomatic tensions between the two countries, the presidents of Turkey and the US held a conciliation meeting during the summit in Rome.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Joe Biden have pledged to improve relations, which have been hampered by a range of issues in recent years, from political differences in Syria to human rights to Turkey’s purchase of Russian S-400 missile systems.
One of the most recent episodes was the American demonstration for the liberation of philanthropist and activist Osman Kavala, a symbol of the Turkish government’s crackdown on civil society.
The Turkish presidency said the two leaders had agreed to form a joint mechanism to strengthen ties, and a top official from Ankara said the talks were held in “a very positive atmosphere”.
Aid to developing countries
The leaders pledged to pay poor countries $100 billion of the global amount of $650 billion in Special Drawing Rights (SDR) issued by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to address the effects of the pandemic.
“We welcome recent pledges of about $45 billion in donations as a step towards the ambitious $100 billion in voluntary contributions to the countries most in need,” they said.
They are following in the footsteps of the G7, which has already set a $100 billion target for redistribution, mainly to Africa.
nuclear deal with Iran
The US, Germany, France and the UK urged Iran to re-fulfill the requirements set out in the 2015 nuclear deal to “avoid a dangerous escalation”. The agreement derailed after Washington’s departure in 2018, as determined by then-President Donald Trump.
After the Republican announced that the US would reinstate sanctions against the Iranian regime, Tehran failed to respect the uranium enrichment limits established by the pact.
On Saturday (30), the four powers once again stated that they wanted a negotiated solution so that Iran could once again comply with the pact’s requirements — a request the country continues to resist.
Rapprochement between Biden and Macron
A meeting between Biden and Emmanuel Macron, on Friday (29), ended —according to the two leaders— the diplomatic crisis triggered by the American agreement with the United Kingdom and Australia for the construction of nuclear submarines.
Dubbed Aukus, the security pact had angered the French because it meant the cancellation of a billion-dollar contract signed in 2016 with the Australians.
After meeting Biden, Macron stated that it was time to look to the future. “What really matters is what we do together in the coming weeks and months,” the Frenchman said during a speech at his Vatican embassy after meeting Biden.
The American, for his part, admitted that US actions in the episode could have been better and said that Washington does not have an older, more loyal ally than France.
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