G20 leaders launched a desperate push Sunday to agree a joint approach to tackling climate change, with officials working through the night to reach a meaningful commitment ahead of UN talks. The Group of 20 major economies emit nearly 80 percent of carbon emissions, and a promise of action would provide a much-needed boost to COP26 climate talks starting in Glasgow on Sunday.
But draft communiques suggest they would fall short of a firm pledge to keep global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels or a clear timeline on how to reach net zero emissions.
Experts say meeting the 1.5 degree target — the most ambitious goal in the 2015 Paris climate deal — means slashing global emissions nearly in half by 2030 and to “net-zero” by 2050.
Officials in Rome “negotiated the whole night” and into Sunday morning, an EU source said, pressing for something to take to Glasgow, where nearly 200 leaders gather over the next few days.
US President Joe Biden is among those pushing for tough action in Rome, although his own ambitious climate policy is mired by infighting among his own party.
A senior US official said late Saturday that elements of the final G20 statement “are still being negotiated”. The official expressed hope the summit would commit “to end overseas financing of coal”, offer “positive language” on decarbonising the power sector and see more countries sign up to targets on cutting methane.
Speaking to the weekly Journal du Dimanche, French President Emmanuel Macron said the Rome summit had to “do its utmost” to ensure the success of Glasgow, but that “nothing is ever written before a COP”.
“Let’s not forget that in Paris, in 2015, nothing was decided in advance,” Macron said.
The heir to the throne will remind them of their “overwhelming responsibility to generations yet unborn”, his office said. It is impossible not to hear the despairing voices of young people who see you as the stewards of the planet, holding the viability of their future in your hands.”
On Saturday, Draghi also urged G20 leaders to act together on climate, but also on improving the delivery of vaccines and on helping the world recover from the devastation of Covid-19.
“From the pandemic to climate change, to fair and equitable taxation, going it alone is simply not an option,” he told the gathered leaders. The G20 showed it could work together on some issues, green lighting a deal for a minimum tax of 15 percent on global corporations, as part of a reform plan inked by almost 140 nations.
Source: eNCA
In other news – Scandal actress Nqobile Khumalo(Hlengiwe) gushes over her boyfriend -Photos
Nqobile Khumalo or popularly known, Nunu Khumalo, never misses an opportunity to flaunt her boyfriend on Instagram. The Scandal actress is dating a white guy from Rome named Federico Ancillai, and the two are so much in love.
Federico Ancillai is a model and actor cast in movies like the 2015 movie Alta infedelta and 2018’s Burning Red. He bagged an award for Best Actor on the Art Film awards for his role in Burning Red. Learn more
