Final statement on climate offers few commitments

ROME • Leaders of the Group of 20 (G-20) major economies agreed on a final statement yesterday that urged "meaningful and effective" action to limit global warming to 1.5 deg C, but offered few concrete commitments.

Negotiations over the past week saw continuous clashes over both objectives and timelines on climate, with several officials pointing the finger at holdouts China, Russia and India.

The last round of talks saw negotiators, known as sherpas, talk throughout Saturday night, and they celebrated the end of their marathon with applause at the main La Nuvola venue around 10am.

The result of days of tough negotiation leaves huge work to be done at a broader United Nations climate summit in Scotland, where most of the G-20 leaders will fly to directly from Rome.

By agreeing to a watered-down communique on climate change, the G-20 opted to keep the group united ahead of the crucial talks in Glasgow. A failure in Rome to agree would have represented a serious setback for prospects of success at the summit, known as COP26.

The G-20 bloc, which includes Brazil, China, India, Germany and the United States, accounts for an estimated 80 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions.

The final document says current national plans on how to curb emissions will have to be strengthened "if necessary", and makes no specific reference to 2050 as a date to achieve net-zero carbon emissions.

"We recognise that the impacts of climate change at 1.5 deg C are much lower than at 2 deg C. Keeping 1.5 deg C within reach will require meaningful and effective actions and commitment by all countries," the communique said.

The 1.5 deg C threshold is what UN experts say must be met to avoid a dramatic acceleration of extreme climate events such as droughts, storms and floods, and to reach it, they recommend that net-zero emissions should be achieved by 2050.

The leaders recognised "the key relevance" of achieving net-zero carbon emissions by the middle of this century.

China, the world's biggest carbon emitter, has set a target date of 2060, while other large polluters such as India and Russia have also not committed to the 2050 target date. UN experts say that even if current national plans are fully implemented, the world is headed for global warming of 2.7 deg C, with a catastrophic acceleration of climate events.

As expected, yesterday's statement included an agreement to phase out investment in new offshore coal power plants, something China already said it would do. "We will put an end to the provision of international public finance for new unabated coal power generation abroad by the end of 2021," it said.

On domestic coal, the statement contains only a general pledge to support those countries that commit to "phasing out investment in new unabated coal power generation capacity to do so as soon as possible".

The leaders also set no date for phasing out fossil fuel subsidies, saying they will endeavour to do so "over the medium term".

On methane, which has a more potent but less lasting impact than carbon dioxide on global warming, the G-20 leaders watered down their wording from a previous draft.

They agreed to be "vigilant of the evolution of energy markets", a reference to surging prices for oil, natural gas and coal that have rocked much of Europe and Asia.

The G-20 said it was key to ensure "affordability" of energy. It reaffirmed a commitment to support the green transition in developing countries by jointly mobilising US$100 billion (S$135 billion) per year annually until 2025.

The communique recognised the efforts made by some countries to ensure that at least 30 per cent of global oceans and seas are conserved or protected by 2030, but only encouraged others to make similarly ambitious commitments.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said last Friday that the world was rushing headlong towards climate disaster and G-20 leaders must do more to help poorer countries. "Unfortunately, the message to developing countries is essentially this: The cheque is in the mail. On all our climate goals, we have miles to go. And we must pick up the pace," he added.

REUTERS, BLOOMBERG