In the first time since the start of the pandemic almost two years ago the G20 leaders are meeting face-to-face to discuss on climate change, Covid-19 and relaunch of global economy. The heads of the world’s 20 biggest economies kicked off two days of talks on Saturday where they were set to acknowledge the threat of climate change. A draft communique seen by Reuters show major countries are only likely to slightly toughen previous pledges on climate action, while failing to set tough new targets that activists say are vital to prevent environmental catastrophe. The talks come amid rising dire warnings for the future if urgent action is not take to cut emissions. China’s Xi Jinping and Russia’s Vladimir Putin are not in Rome for the summit. They chose to appear via video link instead. The G20 group, made up of 19 countries and the European Union, is estimated to account for 80% of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions. United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres cautioned G20 leaders Friday to show "more ambition and more action" and overcome mistrust in order to advance climate goals.
"We are still on time to put things on track, and I think the G20 meeting is the opportunity to do that," Guterres said, just three days before the COP26 climate summit kicks off in Glasgow.
Summit host Mario Draghi, the Italian prime minister, has called for a "G20 commitment on the need to limit the rise in temperatures to 1.5 degrees" above pre-industrial levels, the most ambitious target outlined in the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change.
On Friday British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, the host of the UN talks next week, gave a serious warning of what could happen if the world failed.
"We are not going to stop global warming in Rome or in this meeting in COP," he told reporters aboard his plane to Rome. "The most we can hope to do is slow the increase."
Johnson and French President Emmanuel Macron will hold a brief "brush-by" meeting on the side-lines of the summit to "discuss a range of issues", a spokesman for the British prime minister told journalists on Friday, without confirming the time and date.
Making the task for the G20 more difficult will be disparities between top world powers on tackling global warming.
China, the world's biggest polluter and responsible for more than a quarter of all carbon emissions, has been blamed of sidestepping calls to stop building new coal-fired power plants.
A new plan submitted by Beijing to the UN ahead of COP26 fell short of environmentalists' expectations, with a target date of 2060 to reach carbon neutrality.
