Sunday 31st October 2021
G20 fails to meet climate targets
Biden accuses China and Russia
The major economic powers generate 80 percent of emissions – but cannot agree on ambitious climate targets at the G20 summit. US President Biden blames two countries in particular. Several heads of government nevertheless rate the meeting as a success.
US President Joe Biden has blamed China and Russia for the disappointment of many climate activists with the resolutions of the G20 summit. The disappointment was due to the fact that the two countries had shown no willingness to make any commitments in terms of climate protection, said Biden after the two-day summit in Rome. “There is a reason for people to be disappointed. I found that disappointing myself.”
Nevertheless, the group of leading economic powers made “clear progress” with a view to the climate conference in Glasgow. But more has to happen. But above all, one has to look at “what China does not do, what Russia does not do and what Saudi Arabia does not do”.
The leading economic powers were unable to agree on ambitious common climate goals at their G20 summit in Rome, Italy. The final declaration contains neither a specific target date for the important carbon dioxide neutrality nor for the phase-out from coal-fired power generation. Climate activists had sharply criticized that.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping did not travel to Rome for the summit, but only connected via video. No country produces such a large amount of climate-damaging greenhouse gases as China.
Merkel and Draghi still see success
The outgoing Chancellor Angela Merkel assessed the resolutions after her probably last G20 summit as a “good signal” for Glasgow. The G20 chairman, Italy’s Prime Minister Mario Draghi, also spoke of a success. UN General Secretary António Guterres, who traveled on from the G20 to the climate summit, tweeted: “I am leaving Rome with unfulfilled hopes – but at least they are not buried.”
Over the next two weeks, around 200 countries will be fighting in Glasgow to see how global warming can be contained to a tolerable level. The states’ previous plans are nowhere near enough to avert the impending climate catastrophe. The earth has already warmed up by around 1.1 degrees compared to pre-industrial levels; in Germany it is already 1.6 degrees. In Paris, six years ago, the international community agreed to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees if possible.