There has been a notable breakthrough on climate change at the #G20Italia meeting of the 20 most powerful world leaders in Rome, with a statement in the communiqué that pledges they will take further action to formulate, implement, update and enhance…
commitments to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases “ahead” of 2030. According to an official, this sets up #COP26 to “to deliver a short term acceleration [in greenhouse gas emissions] through the negotiations”. Several officials tell me…
that for them this is a much better G20 outcome than they expected even yesterday. Which may tell you something about the poverty of ambition of world leaders when it comes to climate change. And it gives a following wind to the idea I discussed yesterday that this COP…
may usher in a process for nationally determined contributions (NDCs) to reduce production of methane and CO2 being negotiated every two or three years rather than every five, as at present. There is also relief from these officials that the whole of the G20 has…
endorsed a target for “net zero” - no net emissions of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere - from around the middle of the century, and that no G20 member will finance new coal power stations outside their own country. Climate campaigners will see these promises…
as the unambiguous minimum needed. But one official involved in the talks says last week “a good number of G20 members” were refusing to agree even these limited climate-protecting measures, including on international coal finance. And another…
said: “this delivers a lot more than we had thought even 24 hours ago”.
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