By Yemi Olakitan
A UN report on Friday stated that although global climate action is moving forward, “much more is needed now on all fronts.”
The document stressed that global emissions are “not in line” with achieving the temperature goal set forth in the Paris Agreement and warned of “a rapidly closing window” for increasing ambition and putting existing commitments into action in order to keep global warming to 1.5°C.
Furthermore, the leaders of the G20 group of wealthy nations are under pressure in New Delhi to establish a coordinated strategy to reduce climate-heating emissions by switching to clean energy, but geopolitical disputes and a lack of funding are casting a shadow over the prospects.
Experts noted that because the G20 together accounts for up to 80% of global emissions and 85% of the global gross domestic product, the group is crucial to adopting a firm stand against stronger action to slow down climate change.Failure to do so would put at risk the 2015 Paris Agreement’s target of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius and would make it more difficult to reach an agreement at the COP28 UN climate summit in December, they warned.
“Together (the G20) have the moral responsibility and the economic heft to slow global warming,” said Tom Evans, a policy advisor on climate diplomacy at E3G, a global think tank. “Yet hopes for bolder climate action from the G20 this year have so far been hamstrung by geopolitical spats between major powers,” he added during a press conference.
Ambitious commitments from the G20 might “show the world that they are ready to cooperate to protect people from climate impacts” after a summer marked by extreme heat waves, flooding, and wildfires, particularly in the northern hemisphere.
However, with the world currently 1.2°C hotter than pre-industrial times, the G20 leaders’ meeting, which is being hosted by India, the third-largest emitter in the world, comes amid doubts about the viability of keeping global average temperatures to 1.5°C over pre-industrial times.
Experts further observed that the majority of climate funding is given in the form of loans, which merely increase government debt and reduce the amount of money available for things like healthcare and education for their inhabitants.
Prior to the summit, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres stated in New Delhi that “the climate crisis is worsening dramatically, but the collective response is lacking in ambition, credibility, and urgency.” Guterres will attend the summit.The UN chief continued, “advancing a just and equitable transition to a green economy” and “keeping the 1.5 degree goal alive” are three areas where G20 leaders must demonstrate leadership.
He urged richer nations to fulfil their unfulfilled promises to give climate funding in order to support emerging economies and high-emitting nations in their increased efforts to reduce greenhouse gas pollution. According to a report by the development organisation Oxfam, the G20 countries, which include important emerging economies, are on track to increase their greenhouse gas emissions by 10.6% by 2030 rather than the 43.3% required to keep global warming to below 1.5°C.
At more than 200 meetings held this year, thousands of G20 government representatives have worked to secure agreements on subjects ranging from wars to climate change. However, disagreements on how to resolve the Russia-Ukraine conflict have complicated the conversation on climate change.
According to Reuters, nations have not yet reached an understanding on three specific proposals: a pledge to phase out the use of fossil fuels, a peaking of their greenhouse gas emissions by 2025, and a tripling of renewable energy ambitions. Along with Russia, China, and South Africa, Saudi Arabia, a major oil-producing nation, has opposed boosting renewable energy objectives while also opposing efforts to reduce the use of fossil fuels.
The Oxfam analysis noted that current climate targets would leave G20 countries’ yearly average per capita emissions at roughly double what they should be in order to keep under 1.5°C of warming by 2030.
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Developing nations, including Indonesia and South Africa, have said that such a goal requires a clear outline of where the funding will come from to put it into practise.
Germany is currently mobilising international support to set a target at COP28 for tripling global renewable energy capacity, according to Reuters.
The G20 summit, according to Linda Kalcher, executive director of the European think tank Strategic Perspectives, is a crucial opportunity for the European Union (EU) to win over other nations.
However, she went on to say that a worldwide renewables objective “can only become a success if it comes with a financial package to ensure it can be achievable for developing countries”.
According to Kalcher, “the EU and other wealthy nations can lower the cost of capital and create new economic alliances on renewable manufacturing and deployment.”
In 2022, the G20 countries used a combined percentage of wind and solar power that was 13% more than it was in 2015. At the time the Paris Climate Agreement was signed, the goal was to keep global warming “well below” 2°C and ideally below 1.5°C.
Despite the improvements, analysts claim that launching a comprehensive energy transition will require trillions of dollars in additional funding in addition to aiding nations affected by the climate crisis in managing their growing debt loads. These concerns have assumed a central role in the G20 political debates and beyond.
According to the most recent figures for 2021, 122 developing countries got around US$70 billion to fund plans to combat climate change and reduce emissions, according to a new analysis from the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) of the UK.
More than two-thirds of total, or roughly US$53 billion, came in the form of new debt, with less than half arriving in the form of “concessional” finance, which includes grants and loans with interest rates below market.
According to IIED environmental economist Sejal Patel, “the majority of climate finance is provided as loans that only increase government debt, which means they have less money available to spend on things like healthcare and education for their citizens.”
She urged the G20 leaders to “make concrete progress on reshaping the global financial system to make it fairer for those most impacted by climate change.” The G20 finance ministers’ meeting on September 5 gave some indication that their leaders would probably agree to support debt-ridden nations and reform global development institutions to help them fulfil their financial needs, including battling climate change.
According to Sanjay Vashist, director of the organisation Climate Action Network South Asia, India has a special chance to persuade the other G20 countries to achieve an equitable, cheap, and inclusive transition to sustainable energy.
“The Indian (G20) presidency must aim to get the world back on track to limit global warming below 1.5°C as promised by countries under the Paris Agreement,” the official continued.
