New Delhi: G20 countries agreed in their joint declaration on Saturday (September 9) to pursue the tripling of the world’s renewable energy capacity and facilitate low-cost financing to developing countries to meet climate change goals.
The tripling of renewable energy capacities was a stumbling block in this year’s G20 negotiations and faced resistance from the US, Russia, Saudi Arabia and India.
But disagreements between G20 constituents over the proposed cutting of greenhouse emissions by 60% before 2035 resulted in it being excluded from Saturday’s joint statement, Reuters reported.
Earlier, environment and climate ministers of G20 countries weren’t able to agree over the 60% reduction target at a meeting in Chennai in July, leading (among other things) to an outcome statement instead of a joint communique.
The G20’s joint statement from Saturday also said the countries will “work towards facilitating low-cost financing” for developing countries to support their transition to lower carbon emissions.
“Recognising the imperative of achieving the [Sustainable Development Goals], we will collectively mobilise more headroom and concessional finance to boost the World Bank’s capacity to support low and middle-income countries that need help in addressing global challenges…” the statement read.
This comes amid a push from the US to reform the World Bank to boost lending for climate change efforts and in order to position it as a counter to China’s overseas lending, a report by Reuters said.
The statement also said the G20 countries “recognise the importance” of “accelerating efforts towards [the] phasedown of unabated coal power in line with national circumstances”.
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The G7, a subset of the G20 consisting of seven of the world’s largest ‘advanced’ economies, pushed for a commitment to reaching net zero goals before 2050 but this did not figure in the joint statement due to opposition from fossil fuel producing and developing countries, Reuters reported.
Instead, the joint statement reiterates the G20’s commitment to achieving “global net zero [greenhouse gas] emissions/carbon neutrality by or around mid-century, while taking into account the latest scientific developments and in line with different national circumstances…”
It also ‘notes’ the setting up of the global biofuel alliance that Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced on Saturday. India, Brazil and the US are its founding members and 19 countries in total have agreed to join it.
The alliance seeks to accelerate the development of biofuels that can support a global energy transition.
Upon hearing of disagreements between G20 delegations during negotiations earlier this year, the organisers of the UN’s annual Conference of the Parties climate meet, which will take place in the UAE in December this year, said that “those at the frontline of climate change need our support now, not in [five] years’ time” and that G20 leaders must give a “clear signal that the political will to tackle the climate crisis is there”.
An Indian official told Reuters that delegations were wary of being bound in the future to commitments they make at the G20 summit.
“Nobody wants to make a commitment now, as then you will have a problem at your hands because you can get tied down to what you agree at this summit,” they said.