Diplomatic tensions over climate finance expected to dominate G20 summit in Brazil
RIO DE JANEIRO – Diplomatic tensions over climate finance are expected to dominate discussions at this week’s G20 summit in Brazil, as negotiators at U.N. talks in Azerbaijan have reached a deadlock.
Heads of state arriving in Rio de Janeiro on Sunday for the G20 summit will spend Monday and Tuesday addressing issues ranging from poverty and hunger to the reform of global institutions. However, the ongoing U.N. climate talks have shed light on their efforts to combat global warming.
While the COP29 summit in Baku, Azerbaijan, is tasked with setting a goal to mobilise hundreds of billions of dollars for climate action, the G20 leaders, who represent the world’s largest economies, are the ones who can ultimately provide or control the funding.
On one hand, the G20 countries account for 85% of the world’s economy and are the largest contributors to multilateral development banks helping to steer climate finance. On the other hand, they are responsible for more than three-quarters of greenhouse gas emissions worldwide.
“All countries must do their part. But the G20 must lead,” U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres told COP29 last week. “They are the largest emitters, with the greatest capacities and responsibilities.”
Accordingly, COP29 must set a new goal for how much financing should be directed from developed countries, multilateral banks, and the private sector to developing nations. Economists told the summit it should be at least $1 trillion.
Wealthy countries, particularly in Europe, have argued that an ambitious climate finance goal can only be achieved if the base of contributors is expanded to include wealthier developing nations.
The success of not only COP29 but also the next U.N. climate summit, COP30, hosted in Brazil next year, hinges on a breakthrough on climate finance.
A centrepiece of Brazil’s COP30 strategy is “Mission 1.5,” an initiative aimed at preserving the Paris Agreement’s goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. The U.N. estimates that current national targets will lead to a temperature rise of at least 2.6 degrees Celsius.
Developing countries argue that they can only increase their emissions reduction targets if wealthy nations, the primary contributors to climate change, bear the financial burden.
“It is technically possible to meet the goal of 1.5 degrees Celsius, but only if a G20-led, massive mobilization to cut all greenhouse gas emissions … is achieved,” said Bahamas Prime Minister Philip Davis at COP29 last week.
