G20 energy ministers fail to agree on road map to phase down use of fossil fuels
- In May, G7 leaders agreed in Hiroshima, Japan to ‘accelerate the phase-out of unabated fossil fuels’
- A final statement after the meeting in Goa, India on Saturday did not even mention coal, a major contributor to global warming
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A final statement after the meeting did not even mention coal, a major contributor to global warming.
Campaigners were dismayed by the failure to reach agreement in Goa on COP (Conference of the Parties) goals including tripling the world’s renewable capacity and doubling energy efficiency by 2030.
Global temperatures are hitting record highs, triggering floods, storms and heatwaves.
Explaining the stalemate, G20 president India said that some members had emphasised the importance of seeking a “phase down of unabated fossil fuels, in line with different national circumstances”.
But “others had different views on the matter that abatement and removal technologies will address such concerns,” it added.
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Alden Meyer, a senior associate at independent climate think tank E3G, condemned the outcome of the meeting.
“With temperature records being set daily around the world and the impacts of climate change spiralling out of control, the world needed to hear a clarion call to action from the G20 energy ministers,” he said in a statement.
“Instead, what we got was very weak tea indeed.”
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But many developing economies argue that the developed West must pay more as a legacy polluter and greenhouse contributor.
They insist that any transition needs huge capital and new technology, while giving up on polluting fuels without affordable alternatives will condemn their huge populations to poverty.
G20 host nation India is itself only pledging to reach net zero by 2070, 20 years later than the commitment made by many other countries.
A report prepared for its G20 presidency estimated the cost of the energy transition at US$4 trillion a year and emphasised the importance of low-cost financing for developing countries and technology transfers – a key demand of New Delhi’s.
Some major oil producers have also resisted a quick transition away from fossil fuels.
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They had “blocked efforts to land agreement on tripling clean energy, targeting fossil fuel cuts,” King tweeted.
Emirati oil boss Sultan Ahmed al-Jaber, who will head up the COP28 talks, has said he expects fossil fuels to continue to play a role with the use of often controversial technologies to “abate”, or neutralise, the emissions.
He has said that a phase down of fossil fuels is both “inevitable” and “essential”, but has been reluctant to spell out a time frame.
