By Marco Lopez
BELMOPAN, TUES. Sept. 10, 2024
Climate negotiations have long been reduced to a game of wordplay. Indeed, words have power. Countries that stand to benefit from the continued proliferation of fossil fuels know this very well.
The phasing “transition from fossil fuel” was meaningfully recognized for the first time by the international community at COP 28 in Dubai with a pledge towards this goal.
However, the G20 grouping has left out this explicit phasing from their most recent draft resolution for its meeting scheduled for Wednesday, September 11, 2024, in Brazil.
The meeting, being held by the current chair of the G20 grouping, Brazil, is organized to discuss the global approach to the climate crisis.
The first draft of the G20 communique features the pledge “transition from fossil fuel” in paragraph five but has been omitted from the same paragraph in the latest iteration of the draft resolution.
While these G20 countries – that include powerhouse emitters like the US, UK, China, and India – have never directly addressed the need to give up fossil fuel, the pledge made at COP28 signaled some progress.
Calls are now being made for the pledge to be reinstated, as the omission could result in serious backsliding of progress already made to address the crux of the climate issue – fossil fuel emissions.
The meeting on Wednesday is important since it should consolidate the progress made at COP28 – making the explicit inclusion of the “transition from fossil fuel” pledge pivotal.
The G20’s Taskforce on a Global Mobilization Against Climate (TF-Clima) – who is heading this meeting – is currently discussing the latest draft resolution and crucial paragraph, reports say.
Tomorrow’s meeting is a part of strategic sessions being held from September 9th to the 13th. On November, 18 and 19 the G20 Global Leaders Summit is scheduled to take place in Rio de Janeiro.
Brazil’s presidency over the G20 bloc ends in November 2024. That country is scheduled to host COP30, in Belém, located in the Brazilian Amazon.
