Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Nov 19 (EFE).- G20 leaders concluded their summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Tuesday with words of encouragement for the stalled COP29 climate negotiations in Baku, Azerbaijan, but without a clear commitment to unblock the talks there.
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and UN Secretary-General António Guterres took to the stage on the second and final day of the meeting of the world’s largest economies to call for commitments to ensure a successful conclusion to the negotiations in Baku, where climate finance targets are being decided.
However, the closing statement only hoped for a «successful» outcome at COP29 and the G20 leaders did not give their representatives a mandate to break the deadlock in the negotiations, which are due to end on Friday.
“We are determined to lead bold, timely and structural actions in our national economies and in the international financial system with a view to accelerating and scaling up climate action,” the document said without going into specifics.
Developing countries are calling for a new climate finance target of 1.3 trillion dollars a year, which would be used to decarbonize their economies, adapt their territories to climate impacts, and cope with loss and damage from natural disasters.
However, developed countries have yet to come up with a figure.
Moreover, the contribution of the United States is in doubt after the victory of Republican Donald Trump, a climate change skeptic who will return to the White House on 20 Jan. 2025.
Lula, the summit’s host, has urged negotiators in Baku not to postpone an agreement on a climate finance target until their next annual meeting (COP30) in the Brazilian city of Belém.
«We cannot postpone the task from Baku to Belém. COP30 will be our last chance to avoid an irreversible collapse of the climate system,» he warned.
The progressive Brazilian leader also called for «stronger climate governance» because «there is no point in negotiating new commitments» if there is no «effective» mechanism to accelerate the implementation of the Paris Agreement, «whose results are far from what is needed».
The Paris Agreement is a legally binding international treaty adopted in 2015 during the COP21 in Paris, to limit global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.
The UN secretary-general warned G20 countries that failure at the Baku talks is «not an option» and could have «devastating impacts.”
He said the success of the climate summit was in the hands of the G20, which represents 85% of global gross domestic product and 80% of polluting emissions.
«I ask you to instruct your ministers and negotiators to make sure they agree on a new ambitious climate finance goal this year. Failure is not an option,» he added.
“We remain resolute in our commitment to fighting hunger, poverty, and inequality, promoting sustainable development in its economic, social, and environmental dimensions, and reforming global governance,” the G20 Rio de Janeiro Leaders’ Declaration concluded. EFE
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