G20 Call For ‘Meaningful Action' On Climate Lacks Ambition, Say Critics

World leaders meeting at the G20 summit in Rome have agreed that countries must take meaningful action to keep the world from warming by no more than 1.5C above pre-industrial levels, but are facing criticism for offering few concrete commitments to reach the target.

- Patrick Wintour

World leaders meeting at the G20 summit in Rome have agreed that countries must take meaningful action to keep the world from warming by no more than 1.5C above pre-industrial levels, but are facing criticism for offering few concrete commitments to reach the target.

Yesterday’s final communique did not include a commitment to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. The G20 leaders instead agreed to word that underlines the importance of reaching net-zero by or around the middle of the century, phrasing that meets the positions of China and Saudi Arabia.

Greenpeace condemned the statement as weak and “lacking ambition ”, and said G20 leaders “failed to meet the moment” before Glasgow’s Cop26 climate conference. “If the G20 was a dress rehearsal for Cop26 then world leaders fluffed their lines,” said its executive director, Jennifer Morgan.

But Tom Burke, of the E3G thinktank, praised changes in the language agreed. “ The crucial words are on this decade. Previously they had only talked about 2050, which is too far away,” he said. “This is an expression of a growing sense of urgency in the G20, driven by both events and science. This is a political signal that will add momentum to the Cop and help in reaching an agreement at Cop. We were not expecting this language.”