G20 leaders meet after two years, with climate, COVID-19 and economy in focus

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ROME – The heads of the world’s 20 largest economies began two days of talks on Saturday in which they were willing to acknowledge the existential threat of climate change but would not make radical new commitments to control global warming.

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A draft statement seen by Reuters shows that major countries are likely to slightly toughen their previous promises on climate action, while failing to set tough new targets that activists say are vital to preventing an environmental catastrophe.

Yet more progress was made on other fronts, with leaders backing a minimum tax deal that all countries can collect from corporations starting in 2023, a landmark deal meant to prevent big business from parking profits in havens. prosecutors.

Leaders were also expected to back plans to vaccinate 70% of the world’s population against COVID-19 by mid-2022 and create a task force to combat future pandemics.

“From the pandemic to climate change, to fair and equitable taxes, going alone is not an option,” said Italian Prime Minister Draghi at the beginning of the meeting that will be held in a glass and steel conference center, known as “The Cloud”. . “

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The G20 bloc, which includes Brazil, China, India, Germany and the United States, accounts for more than 80% of the world’s gross domestic product, 60% of its population and approximately 80% of global greenhouse gas emissions. .

Many of the G20 leaders, including US President Joe Biden, will fly directly to Glasgow for the start on Monday of the United Nations climate summit, known as COP26, which is seen as crucial to addressing the threat of rising temperatures.

Hopes of making big strides in Rome were clouded by the decision of Chinese President Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin of Russia to stay home and only follow the events by video.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson acknowledged that the G20 and COP26 talks would be difficult, but warned that without courageous action, world civilization could collapse as quickly as the ancient Roman Empire, ushering in a new Dark Age.

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“It’s going to be very, very difficult to get the agreement we need,” he told reporters early Saturday.

FINE IN DETAILS

The draft final communiqué said that the G20 countries will intensify their efforts to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, the level that scientists have said is necessary to avoid disastrous new weather patterns.

The document also acknowledges that current national plans on how to curb harmful emissions will need to be strengthened, but offered few details on how to do so.

In addition, leaders have pledged to halt funding for overseas coal-fired power generation by the end of this year and to “do everything possible” to halt the construction of new coal-fired power plants before the end of the decade. 2030.

While the climate debate will dominate in Rome, much of the first day of talks was devoted to discussing the COVID-19 health crisis and economic recovery.

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Fears about rising energy prices and extended supply chains will be addressed, while Biden was expected to urge G20 energy producers with spare capacity to boost production, particularly Russia and Saudi Arabia, to ensure a stronger global economic recovery, said a senior US administration official.

Later, the US president was scheduled to hold talks with the leaders of Britain, Germany and France about Iran’s nuclear ambitions, just one of many meetings taking place on the sidelines as G20 heads catch up on the diplomacy in person.

“It’s great to see you all here, after a few difficult years for the global community,” said Draghi.

Rome has been on high security alert since the weekend, with up to 6,000 police officers and some 500 soldiers deployed to maintain order.

Two protest rallies have been authorized during the day, but protesters will stay away from the center of the summit, located in a suburb built by the 20th-century fascist dictator Benito Mussolini.