On the final day of the G20 summit 2022, leaders of the world’s wealthiest nations pledged to limit global warming to 1.5C, boosting stalled COP27 negotiations. They also offered Indonesia billions of dollars to wean it off coal.
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Rich nations agreed to strive to stick to the Paris Agreement goal of limiting global warming to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels, sending an important signal to COP27 in the final days of negotiations. Limiting the temperature increase to 1.5C is “urgent” and would require “meaningful and effective actions and commitment by all countries,” the group said in the communique.
The agreement was reached in Bali, Indonesia, where leaders of the world’s largest economies had gathered earlier this week for the G20 summit 2022 to discuss pressing issues including the war in Ukraine, the global energy transition, and food security.
The agreement sent an important signal to COP27 negotiators who are struggling to reach an agreement in time for the summit’s last day on Friday. Whether to refer to the Paris Agreement goal in the conference’s final agreement is still up in the air, as some countries are opposing its inclusion.
“The G20 stand by the Glasgow climate pact and there cannot be any rollback on this here in Sharm el-Sheikh,” said Germany’s climate envoy Jennifer Morgan on Wednesday following the announcement.
The leaders in Bali – including those of the US, China, Saudi Arabia, the UK, and Germany, the world’s biggest emitters – also urged COP27 negotiators to make progress on loss and damage, the financial compensation wealthy nations are asked to pay to developing countries to cope with the devastating consequences of climate change-triggered events.
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Among the agreements reached in Bali is the Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP) for Indonesia. Along with additional support pledged by major financial institutions, the US, European Union, Japan, Canada, and five European nations pledged to give the Asian nation US$20 billion to lessen its reliance on coal and expand its renewable energy generation. The partnership is the second of its kind: at COP26 in Glasgow last year, the UK, US, France, Germany, and the EU announced the JETP partnership to support South Africa’s climate commitment and speed up the energy transition in the country.
“Right now, with regard to climate activists, there is increasing criminalisation, intimidation and threats,” Grita Anindarini of the Indonesian Center for Environmental Law said in a statement. “Civil society organisations are calling for the ‘just’ aspects of the Just Transition, including transparency, human rights, and economic justice. We can say that the deal will be credible if these aspects are included.”
Featured image: AFP
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