Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (TDI): Global climate action finally got a major boost as the G20 countries have sent a clear message to UN negotiating teams to scale up climate financing from billions to trillions in its leaders meeting in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
On Wednesday a positive development was noticed as majority of the leaders attending the G20 Summit, is now returning to Baku for the concluding session of the climate conference with a strong message from Rio.
This is considered a major high-level diplomatic breakthrough, related to the stalled UN climate talks in Baku, on the need to rapidly and substantially ‘scale up climate finance from billions to trillions from all sources.’
Earlier, key leaders including US top and China top officials didn’t turn up for recent COP29 summit in Baku on Global Climate Action.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was already unhappy over weak responses from the rich countries contributing insufficient resources for global climate action. He had warned world to aid developing countries or face disasters.
While the statement from the world’s leading economies – and biggest emitters – stopped short of explicit reference of ‘transitioning away from fossil fuels’, to which all nations agreed last year at COP28 in Dubai, the G20 leaders did ‘welcome the balanced, ambitious outcome’ of those talks, diplomats and experts noted.
Read More: Baku Hosts Global Climate Talks Before COP29
The G20 communiqué comes as the clock ticks down on COP29, which will wrap up this Friday in the Azerbaijan capital, Baku.
The complex negotiations on new and significantly scaled-up funding for loss and damage and accelerated clean energy goals are moving slowly, as some countries dig into their positions while waiting for others to pull back from their own, reports suggest.
On Monday, the UN chief told the G20 summit, “Failure [in Baku] is not an option. It might compromise the ambition in the preparation of the new national climate action plans, with potential devastating impacts as irreversible tipping points are getting closer. The preservation of the Amazon is a case in point.”
Also Read: UN Chief: Aid Developing Countries or Face Disaster
Missing the opportunity to reach agreement on a new climate finance deal in Baku “would inevitably also make the success of COP30 in Brazil much more difficult,” he warned. “I appeal to the sense of responsibility of all the countries around this table to help ensure that COP29 will be a success.”
According to APP, in Baku, UN climate chief Simon Stiell who earlier warned against brinkmanship and what he called ‘you-first-ism’, said Tuesday that G20 leaders sent a clear message to their negotiators at COP29: “A successful new finance goal… is in every country’s clear interests.”
