G-20 talks in Rio reach breakthrough on climate finance: Sources

RIO DE JANEIRO - Diplomatic tensions over global warming spilt over into the Group of 20 (G-20) summit negotiations in Brazil this week, with sources saying the 20 major economies reached a fragile consensus on climate finance that had eluded UN talks in Azerbaijan.

Heads of state arrived in Rio de Janeiro on Nov 17 for the G-20 summit and will on Nov 18 and 19 address issues, from poverty to hunger to the reform of global institutions. The talks must now also grapple with how to address escalating violence in Ukraine after a deadly Russian air strike on Nov 17.

Still, the ongoing United Nations climate talks have thrown a spotlight on their efforts to tackle global warming.

While the COP29 summit in Baku, Azerbaijan, is tasked with agreeing on a goal to mobilise hundreds of billions of dollars for climate change, leaders of the G-20 major economies half a world away in Rio are holding the purse strings.

G-20 countries account for 85 per cent of the world’s economy and are the largest contributors to multilateral development banks helping to steer climate finance.

“The spotlight is naturally on the G-20. They account for 80 per cent of global emissions,” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told reporters in Rio de Janeiro. He expressed concern about the state of the COP29 talks in Baku, and called on G-20 leaders to do more to fight climate change.

“Now is the time for leadership by example from the world’s largest economies and emitters,” Mr Guterres said.

UN climate chief Simon Stiell wrote a letter to G-20 leaders on Nov 16

imploring them to act on climate finance

, including boosting grants for developing nations and advancing reforms of multilateral development banks.

However, the same fights that have plagued COP29 since it began last week became central to G-20 negotiations, according to diplomats close to the Rio talks.

COP29 must set a new goal for how much financing should be directed from developed countries, multilateral banks and the private sector to developing nations.

Economists told the summit it should be at least US$1 trillion (S$1.3 trillion).

Wealthy countries, especially in Europe, have been saying that an ambitious goal can be agreed upon only if they expand the base of contributors to include some of the richer developing nations, such as China and major Middle Eastern oil producers.

On Nov 16, discussions on a G-20 joint statement in Rio snagged on the same issue, with European nations pushing for more countries to contribute and developing countries such as Brazil pushing back, diplomats close to the talks told Reuters.

But on the morning of Nov 17, negotiators agreed to a text mentioning developing nations’ voluntary contributions to climate finance, stopping short of calling them obligations, according to two diplomats.

The breakthrough remains overshadowed by the return to power of US President-elect Donald Trump, who is reportedly preparing to again pull the United States out of the Paris climate agreement. His election throws into doubt how much money the world can muster to address climate change, possibly without the support of the world’s largest economy.

Trump is planning to roll back landmark climate legislation passed by outgoing President Joe Biden, who

visited the Amazon rainforest when he made a stop there

on Nov 17 on his way to Rio.

The success of not only COP29 but also the next UN climate summit, COP30, to be hosted in Brazil in 2025, hinges on an ambitious deal on climate finance.

A centrepiece of Brazil’s COP30 strategy is Mission 1.5, a drive to keep alive the Paris Agreement target of limiting global warming to 1.5 deg C above pre-industrial levels. The UN estimates that current national targets would cause temperatures to rise by at least 2.6 deg C.

Developing countries argue they can raise their targets for emission cuts only if rich nations, who are the main culprits for climate change, foot the bill.

Bahamas Prime Minister Philip Davis said at COP29 last week: “It is technically possible to meet the goal of 1.5 deg C, but only if a G-20-led, massive mobilisation to cut all greenhouse gas emissions... is achieved.” REUTERS