UN chief urges G-20 ‘leadership’ on stalled climate talks
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called on the G-20 to “lead by example”.
PHOTO: AFP
Follow topic:
RIO DE JANEIRO - United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Nov 17 called on Group of 20 (G-20) leaders gathering in Rio de Janeiro to rescue stalled concurrent UN climate talks in Azerbaijan by showing “leadership” on cutting emissions.
“A successful outcome at COP29 is still within reach, but it will require leadership and compromise, namely from the G-20 countries,” Mr Guterres, who will attend the summit of the world’s biggest economies starting Nov 18, told a press conference in Rio.
The annual UN talks in Baku are deadlocked at the midway point, with nations no closer to agreeing to a US$1 trillion (S$1.3 trillion) deal for climate investments in developing nations after a week of negotiations.
The talks are stuck over the final figure, the type of financing, and who should pay, with Western countries wanting China and wealthy Gulf states to join the list of donors.
All eyes have turned to Rio in the hope of a breakthrough.
“The spotlight is naturally on the G-20. They account for 80 per cent of global emissions,” Mr Guterres said, calling on the group to “lead by example”.
Climate was an issue advanced by several of the leaders as they converged on Rio.
US President Joe Biden, making a stopover in the Amazon
He also – in a reference to President-elect Donald Trump taking over from him in two months – declared that “nobody” could reverse the “clean energy revolution” directed by his government.
European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa in Rio jointly launched a campaign to boost renewable energies in Africa.
“Tripling renewables globally until 2030 would mean a cut of 10 billion tonnes of CO2 (carbon dioxide) emissions,” Dr von der Leyen said at an event put on by the advocacy group Global Citizen.
She said the EU was increasing investment around the world for the building of infrastructure of renewables, “specifically in Africa” through the bloc’s Global Gateway programme – designed to rival China’s Belt and Road Initiative.
The EU is the world’s biggest contributor for climate financing, most of which goes through multilateral funds.
Xi plea
Chinese President Xi Jinping – whose country is the planet’s biggest polluter – made his own plea for the G-20 to step up international cooperation against climate change.
The leaders of the world’s biggest economies should coordinate efforts in areas such as “green and low-carbon development, environmental protection, energy transition and climate change response”, he said in a tribune published in Brazil’s Folha de Sao Paulo newspaper.
The G-20 should “provide more funding, technology and capacity-building support to Global South countries”, he said.
Brazil is hoping to channel the focus on climate in the two-day G-20 summit for it to feature prominently in the meeting’s final declaration.
Ms Marina Silva, Brazil’s environment minister, said it was “fundamental” that the G-20 participants “do their homework” and see to it that the COP29 negotiations move forward. AFP
