critics
“If the G20 was a dress rehearsal for COP26, world leaders were wrong,” said Greenpeace CEO Jennifer Morgan, for whom the leaders “were not up to the task.” “It is all about black measures instead of concrete actions,” said Friederike Röder, from Global Citizen.
“If I’m drowning, I have to swim, but the leaders don’t. The lack of urgency and determination is irresponsible and deeply disappointing, “added Jorn Kalinski, coordinator in the G20 of the NGO Oxfam, as a critic.
However, the disappointment also had official voices. The UN Secretary General, António Guterres, assured that “I am leaving Rome with my hopes unsatisfied, but at least they are not buried.”
In the resolution, the G20 thus commits to “continue efforts to limit global warming to 1.5º”, a goal that requires “significant actions and commitments”. The countries pledge to stop financing the construction of new coal-fired power plants abroad, although without specifying any measures at the national level, and advocate achieving carbon neutrality “by the middle of the century”, a more diffuse formulation than the 2050 date proposed by host country Italy.
China, which emits more than a quarter of greenhouse gases, wants to reach it, for example, by 2060.
The 20 nations of the forum, including Argentina, Mexico and Brazil, also reaffirm the commitment, so far unfulfilled, to mobilize 100 billion dollars to cover the costs of adaptation to climate change in developing countries.
Chance
The ball now goes to the UN climate conference (COP26), whose president, British Minister Alok Sharma, described it as the “last and best chance to meet the + 1.5º target”, during the opening in Glasgow.
The appointment in the Scottish capital, which will last until November 12, is considered crucial, especially when the 2020 can not be held in 2020 due to the pandemic.
After the formal opening, officials held discussions yesterday on procedural issues before world leaders, including President Alberto Fernández, begin their meetings.
The conference and the two-day summit that begins today – which will also be attended by the American Joe Biden, but which will have significant absences such as those of the presidents of China, Russia and Brazil – will seek to resolve the issues that remained pending since the Agreement on Paris, to prevent global warming from exceeding the aforementioned 1.5 C ° this century compared to pre-industrial levels.
Forecasts
Scientists say the chances of reaching that goal, agreed to in the French capital six years ago, are evaporating.
The world has already warmed more than 1.1 ° C, and current projections based on planned cuts in gas emissions for the next decade indicate that it will warm 2.7 ° C. by 2100.
The amount of energy released by such global warming would melt much of the polar ice, raise sea levels and make extreme weather events more likely, experts warn.
Alok Sharma recalled at the opening that the impact of climate change is already being felt and the United States’ Climate Envoy, John Kerry, warned last week of the dramatic impact of exceeding the goals set in Paris. The United States is the second largest polluter in the world, currently behind China, although historically it is responsible for the largest amount of carbon dioxide present in the atmosphere.
India, the world’s third-largest emitter, has yet to follow in the footsteps of China, the United States and the European Union (EU) and set its goal to achieve zero emission, also called carbon neutrality.
Some of the issues to be discussed until November 12 in Glasgow have been on the agenda for decades, including how rich countries can help poorer ones cut emissions and adapt to a hotter world.
Source From: Ambito
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