The heads of the world’s 20 biggest economies kicked off a two-day summit on Saturday in Rome, where they were set to acknowledge the existential threat of climate change.
A UN climate change panel released a report in August calling a “code red for humanity,” as the globe is likely to heat past 2°C unless the world drastically cuts on gas emissions.
Italian Prime Minister and summit host Mario Draghi called for a “G20 commitment on the need to limit the rise in temperatures to 1.5 degrees” above pre-industrial levels, the most ambitious target outlined in the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change.
Meanwhile, British Prime Minister and host of the upcoming UN COP26 Boris Johnson said on Friday that humanity can regress “at extraordinary speed.”
“We are not going to stop global warming in Rome or in this meeting in COP,” he told reporters aboard his plane to Rome. “The most we can hope to do is slow the increase.”
However, according to a draft communique seen by Reuters, the G20 leaders are stopping short of introducing any radical new commitments to tame global warming.
Additionally, disparities between the world’s biggest polluters continue to complicate the G20’s task of tackling global warming.
China, which is responsible for more than a quarter of all carbon emissions, has been accused of ignoring calls to halt construction on new coal-fired power plants, while Brazil’s President Jair Bolsenaro has long demanded that his country be paid to protect its share of the Amazon.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned G20 leaders Friday to show “more ambition and more action” and overcome mistrust in order to advance climate goals.
“We are still on time to put things on track, and I think the G20 meeting is the opportunity to do that,” Guterres said.
But major countries are only likely to slightly toughen their stance on climate action, failing to set challenging new targets that activists say are essential to preventing climate catastrophe.
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