G20 make commitments on climate neutrality, coal financing

ROME (AP) —
Leaders of the world's biggest economies made a compromise commitment Sunday to reach carbon neutrality by or around mid-century as they wrapped up a two-day summit that was laying the groundwork for the U.N. climate conference in Glasgow, Scotland.

According to the final communique, the Group of 20 leaders also agreed to end public financing for coal-fired power generation abroad, but set no target for phasing out coal domestically — a clear nod to coal-dependent countries including China and India.

The Group of 20 countries represent more than three-quarters of the world's greenhouse gas emissions and G-20 host Italy and Glasgow-host Britain had been looking for more ambitious targets coming out of Rome. Without them, momentum for Glasgow could be lost.

Italian Premier Mario Draghi told the leaders going into the final working session Sunday that they needed both to set long-term goals and make short-term changes to reach them.

“We must accelerate the phasing-out of coal and invest more in renewable energy,” he said.

“We also need to make sure that we use available resources wisely, which means that we should become able to adapt our technologies and also our lifestyles to this new world.”

His message was echoed by Britain's Prince Charles, who urged leaders to listen to young people who are inheriting the warming Earth.

“It is quite literally the last-chance saloon,” he said. "It is impossible not to hear the despairing voices of young people who see you as the stewards of the planet, holding the viability of their future in your hands."

According to the communique, the G-20 reaffirmed past commitments by rich countries to mobilise US$100 billion annually to help poorer countries cope with climate change, and committed to scaling up financing for helping them adapt.

A key sticking point remained the deadline to reach carbon neutrality or “net zero” emissions, meaning a balance between greenhouse gases added to and removed from the atmosphere.

Going into the summit Italy had all-but conceded it would only be able to secure commitments to reach net-zero emissions by mid-century, rather than a specific year.

The final communique appeared even weaker, acknowledging the key relevance of achieving global net zero greenhouse gas emissions or carbon neutrality by or around mid-century.

A French official said the non-specific wording reflected the aim to affirm a common goal while providing flexibility to address the diversity of the G-20 countries — especially China and India, as well as Indonesia.

The U.S. and European Union have set 2050 as their deadline for net zero emissions, while China, Russia and Saudi Arabia are aiming for 2060.

The leaders of those three countries didn't come to Rome.

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