G20 Leaders Agree on 1.5°C Climate Change Target
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World leaders scramble to form an agreement on how to approach climate change ahead of the COP26 summit in Glasgow next week.
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G20 world leaders at the opening session Saturday (AFP)
G20 leaders have reportedly reached an agreement on limiting global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.
Sources told AFP that leaders approved going beyond what was agreed upon in the 2015 Paris Accords, which called for limiting global warming ideally closer to 1.5°C.
G20 leaders had launched Saturday a desperate push to reach a joint approach to tackling climate change. Officials have reportedly worked overnight to reach a 'meaningful' commitment ahead of the UN climate summit.
The G20 is made up of 20 major economies that emit a staggering 80% of total global carbon emissions. A promise of action from these nations would bolster the COP26 climate talks that will kick off in Glasgow a week from now, which it urgently needs.
The leaders were reportedly not going to neither fulfill their pledge of keeping global warming 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels nor will they set a clear timeline on how to reach net-zero emissions.
According to experts, reaching the 1.5°C goal would mean nearly halving global emissions by 2030, and getting them to net-zero by 2050.
An EU source told AFP that officials "negotiated the whole night" in a bid to have something tangible to take to Glasgow for the summit that will bring together nearly 200 world leaders over the coming week.
Elements of the final G20 statement "are still being negotiated," a senior US official said. They expressed hope the summit would commit to ending overseas financing of coal.
The same official hoped the summit would also offer "positive language" on decarbonizing the power sector and see more countries sign up to targets on cutting methane.
French President Emmanuel Macron told Journal du Dimanche the Rome summit had to "do its utmost" to ensure Glasgow's success, but "nothing is ever written before a COP," he said, recalling the 2015 Paris summit, where "nothing was decided in advance."
Despite obstacles on reaching an agreement on climate change ahead of the COP26, the G20 showed it could cooperate on some issues, such as giving the green light to a deal for a minimum tax of 15% on global corporations, which comes as part of a reform plan that has been backed by nearly 140 nations.
