G 20 summit: no clear target date for CO2

At the end of their G20 summit in Rome, the major economic powers were unable to agree on an ambitious declaration on climate protection.

As can be seen from the negotiated text for the communiqué, there is still no clear target date for the important carbon dioxide neutrality and the phase-out from coal-fired power generation.

The document was available to the German Press Agency on Sunday.

Instead of the hoped-for “strong signal” at the start of the World Climate Conference (COP26) in Glasgow, there was disagreement until the very end.

Climate activists said they were “disappointed” because the G 20 group is responsible for 80 percent of emissions.

While the year 2050 should be set specifically for “net zero emissions of greenhouse gases or carbon dioxide neutrality” at the beginning, the target is now only generally “up to or around the middle of the century”.

This means that only as many emissions are emitted as can be bound.

The withdrawal was apparently out of consideration for China and Russia, which are not aiming for the target until 2060.

India does not want to commit itself.

No more "immediate action" in the text

There was also no longer any agreement on “immediate action”, as it was called in an initial draft. There is now less urgency about “meaningful and effective action”. Only in general does the G20 affirm that they are still committed to the goals of the Paris Agreement of keeping global warming “well below two degrees and pursuing efforts to limit it to 1.5 degrees”. However, experts believe that a significant improvement in the action plans of the individual countries is necessary.

A coal exit is not even mentioned directly. The commitment to phase out investments in coal-fired power plants is also not very specific. If that originally happened "in the 2030s", the year will be missing in the final communiqué. It is now envisaged "as soon as possible". This could mean that consideration has again been given to China or India, which rely heavily on coal for their electricity generation and are difficult to meet demand. However, the G 20 committed itself to no longer using public funds to support the construction of coal-fired power plants abroad by the end of this year.

Even a reference to the “alarming reports” of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which warned of the dangers of global warming, was weakened in the final text with “recent reports”.

An initial formulation to aim for a “largely carbon dioxide-free power supply” in the 2030s is also missing.

Rather, there is a general desire to expand clean energies.

"The G 20 summit should have been a great starting point for the UN world climate conference COP26 in Glasgow," said climate expert Jan Kowalzig from the development organization Oxfam.

"That did not succeed." The G20 had failed to recognize the inadequacy of its self-commitments under the Paris Agreement and to commit itself to the "urgently needed, immediate improvement".

Oxfam: Catastrophic warming of 2.7 degrees

"Even Germany and the European Union are still unwilling to do their fair share," complained Kowalzig.

The world is currently heading for catastrophic warming of 2.7 degrees, although a maximum of 1.5 degrees is considered the critical threshold.

It should not be improved in five years.

"The planet is on fire - we simply don't have the luxury of further delays."

The financial commitments were also insufficient to adapt to the climatic changes in poorer and badly affected countries.

Only a quarter are currently in programs to protect people.

For example, important programs to secure harvests against droughts, floods or for early warning systems could not be implemented.

Target date for end of subsidy deleted

In the declaration, the G 20 states once again committed themselves to the goal, which is actually already being pursued by 2020, of pledging around 100 billion US dollars a year in aid to poor countries. The communiqué now says that the total will be reached in 2023. There was also no agreement on the expiry of subsidies for fossil fuels, which according to an earlier draft had been targeted by 2025. So the target date was canceled again in the end. Instead, only the old commitment of 2009 in Pittsburgh to let the subsidies run out "in the medium term" was reaffirmed. "Here, the governments willfully use taxpayers' money to fuel the climate crisis," criticized Kowalzig.

Meanwhile, environmental activists demonstrated in Rome against the states' climate policies. "The governments have failed" was written on posters held up by the young men and women of the Extinction Rebellion group on Sunday afternoon in the historic center of the Italian capital. Some of the slightly more than a dozen protesters also sat on the street and blocked traffic.

On Saturday morning, a few dozen climate activists blocked a street with a sit-in strike that leads to the venue of the summit of the 20 most important industrialized and emerging countries (G20) in southern Rome. The police broke the blockade and carried some demonstrators off the road. On Saturday afternoon, thousands walked towards the historic center at a registered demonstration. The protests have so far been peaceful.

The heads of state and government came to Rome for the two-day meeting because Italy was chairing the G20.

Among other things, they advised on climate change, corona vaccines and economic issues.

The Executive Chancellor Angela Merkel as well as the SPD candidate for Chancellor and Executive Finance Minister Olaf Scholz also traveled.

The heads of government of China and Russia were represented.