MANILA, Philippines — The failure of the Group of 20 leaders to agree to a phaseout of fossil fuels is a setback for communities already reeling from the impacts of the climate crisis, climate campaigners said Monday.
Leaders of the G20—the world’s largest economies—committed to pursue and encourage efforts to triple renewable energy capacity globally by 2030 during a summit in New Delhi, India over the weekend.
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However, the G20 nations—which account for most of the world’s carbon emissions—failed to agree to phase out fossil fuels. A United Nations report released Friday stressed the need to “phase out all unabated fossil fuels” to achieve net-zero emissions.
Instead, the leaders committed only to a “phasedown” of coal “in line with national circumstances.”
“The G20 New Delhi Leaders’ Declaration, touted by India as ‘probably the most vibrant, dynamic and ambitious document on climate action,’ is actually a huge blow to the people and communities of the Global South who are facing the brunt of the climate crisis,” said Lidy Nacpil, a Filipino climate activists and coordinator of the Asian Peoples’ Movement on Debt and Development.
Nacpil said that the commitment of G20 nations to end fossil fuels fast and fairly is “critical” in the fight against climate change.
APMDD also called out the G20 for commiting to support the acceleration of hydrogen and ammonia, calling these technologies “false solutions.”
“Putting our bets on unproven, costly abatement technologies that delay the fossil fuel phaseout and just transition to renewable energy systems will further exacerbate the climate crisis,” she said.
‘Step up’ in Dubai
World Resources Institute President Ani Dasgupta also criticized G20 countries for not going far enough on fossil fuels and finance. He urged the G20 economies to adopt concrete actions to address the severe lack of finance and debt crises that climate-vulnerable countries face.
Dasgupta added that these countries must “step up” in a crucial climate summit in December.
“The actions of this group of countries will determine the course of our future,” he said.
Nearly 200 countries meeting in Dubai, United Arab Emirates will assess how far off track they are from fulfilling their commitments to combat global warming. This is part of the process called “global stocktake.”
The world is not on track to meet the long-term goals of the Paris Agreement, including capping global warming at 1.5 degrees Celsius, according to the first UN scorecard of the progress in meeting the climate goals of the 2015 accord. — with report from Agence France-Presse