G20 Declaration fails to send strong message for action against fossil fuels: Climate experts

Wealthy nations bear a disproportionate share of historical responsibility and their inadequate commitment to the G20 declaration would further worsen the situation.

US President Joe Biden, left, Indian Prime Minister Modi, center, and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva hold hands at the launch of the Global Biofuels Alliance at the G20 summit.

NEW DELHI: The New Delhi Declaration of the G20 Summit leaders was high on ambition but low on action on the environmental front. They made a claim of tripling renewable energy capacity but were silent on the target of phasing out fossil fuels equitably.

Fossil fuels accounted for 86% of CO2 emissions during the last decade. Atmospheric CO2 concentrations reached an annual average of 410 ppm, which is higher than at any time in at least two million years.

Expressing serious concern about the increasing historic emissions through fossil fuels, the first global stock-taking report by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) released on the eve of the G20 Summit, stated that ‘the window to keep limiting warming to 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels is closing rapidly’.

The report further states that the emissions gap in 2030 is estimated to be 20.3–23.9 Gt CO2 eq.2 in order to limit warming to 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels. Therefore, rich countries need to raise financial resources to help developing countries take climate action.

Climate experts say that G20 leaders failing to rise to the occasion will derail the transition to green energy and also impact the outcome of the upcoming 28th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP28) in November.

Wealthy nations bear a disproportionate share of historical responsibility and their inadequate commitment to the G20 declaration would further worsen the situation.

“Continued dependence on fossil fuels remains a primary driver of climate change, carrying dire and irrevocable consequences for ecosystems, communities, and the global economy,” said Alex Rafalowicz, Director of the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative.

“G20’s failure to come up with anything substantial on fossil fuel phase-out is unacceptable. World leaders, particularly rich countries, need to rise to the occasion and fulfil their fair share of responsibilities in the fight against the climate crisis,” he asserted.

The collective goal of developed nations is to jointly mobilize USD 100 billion per year for the needs of developing countries. These funds would be used for meaningful mitigation action. However, this fund was not fully mobilized in 2020.

According to the UNFCCC report, public climate finance has been flowing from developed to developing countries since the adoption of the Paris Agreement on climate change on 12 December 2015, from USD 30 billion in 2015 to USD 40.1 billion per year on average in 2019–2020, while multilateral development banks provided USD 45.9 billion per year on average in 2019–2020.

“Unfortunately, the New Delhi Declaration, despite its good intentions, fails to send a strong signal to countries to take transformative action, and once again, global ambition and implementation to address climate change remains insufficient,” rued Sanjay Vashisht, Director of Climate Action Network South Asia.

There is a huge emissions gap in existing commitments under the Agreement and the country’s current national determined commitment (NDC), resulting in inadequate funds and mitigation actions.

According to the first stock-taking report’s assessment, to achieve net zero emissions by 2050 globally, nations need to reduce global greenhouse gases’ emissions by 43 per cent by 2030, and further by 60 per cent by 2035, compared to 2019 levels. They also need to achieve net zero GHG by the 2070s (see table).

Table: Limiting global warming to 1.5 °C in global greenhouse gases​’ emissions to below the 2019 level