At the G20 summit in Rome, heads of state and government reached an agreement to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees. This is clear from the draft statement that AFP and the Department of Political Affairs can view. The G20 wanted to send a strong signal in light of the COP26 climate conference that began in Glasgow on Sunday, but that did not happen. For example, they have not set a target date for achieving carbon neutrality, nor for ending coal electricity generation.
The G20 reaffirms the goals set out in the Paris Climate Agreement. The nations then agreed to limit the increase in the average temperature on Earth to less than 2 degrees at the end of the century, preferably 1.5 degrees at most. But countries are now taking a step forward, adding that “meaningful and effective actions and commitments from all countries are required” to reach the 1.5-degree target.
One of the things the G20 leaders have agreed is that they will stop subsidizing new coal plants this year. “We will end intergovernmental funding for new coal-based power plants by the end of 2021,” the text reads. However, there is no set date for moving away from coal nationally. The G20, made up of the 19 richest countries and the European Union, is responsible for 80 percent of global emissions.
The agreements revolve around coal-fired power plants where the technology is not used in any way to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. According to Bloomberg, this is a severely watered-down statement. It was already expected that countries would no longer want to invest money in building dirty new coal-fired power plants across the border. But no firm agreements have been reached on domestic coal-fired power plants. Only the G20 countries pledge to support countries committed to phasing out investments in new coal-fired power plants.
last chance
This COP26 climate summit in Glasgow is “the last and best chance to keep warming below 1.5 degrees within reach”. This is what Summit Chairman Alok Sharma said in his opening speech. More efforts are expected from all countries to confront climate change.
The Chair of the Climate Summit two years ago in Madrid, Chilean Carolina Schmidt, opened the International Climate Summit in Glasgow on Sunday. She handed the wand to the head of the summit in Glasgow, British politician Alok Sharma. He stressed that the summit is very important to reach consensus on tackling climate change. Sharma added that there is no way to imagine the future unless an agreement is reached.
“My message is very clear,” Sharma said. “Leave the ghosts of the past behind and let us focus on the future and unite around that issue that concerns us all; that protects our precious planet.”
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