Can India unite a ‘divided’ G20 to tackle ‘major sticking point’ of climate financing?

With the Ukraine war and a global economic slowdown looming over the G20 summit, India will have a tough time reconciling positions within the group

While political issues divide the bloc, the G20 can still progress on economic issues like climate financing especially to poorer nations, say analysts

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Labourers pass a G20 India summit hoarding in New Delhi. India, which holds the rotating presidency, will have a tough job of reconciling positions to achieve concrete outcomes. Photo: AFP

Published: 6:00pm, 6 Sep 2023

The shadow of the Russia-Ukraine war and a global economic slowdown is looming as New Delhi gears up to host the G20 leaders’ summit this weekend with the Sanskrit theme “Vasudhaiva kutumbakam” – the world is one family.

India, which holds the rotating presidency, will have a tough job of reconciling positions to achieve concrete outcomes, but the event could prove to be significant for climate funding and relief for debt-stressed nations, analysts say.

“Political issues have really divided the G20, but on the economic front it can do several things. The major sticking point is climate finance, and providing finance to the middle and low-income countries,” said Biswajit Dhar, a distinguished professor at the Council for Social Development, a Delhi-based research institute.

Several low and middle-income countries, such as Pakistan and Sri Lanka, are battling debt problems, which have been exacerbated by the pandemic as well as the effects of climate change, and therefore face a difficult transition to the net-zero goal.

“The West has not been willing to provide the kind of support the developing countries were expecting. The developing countries will have to be provided with affordable finance, and they can’t be burdened with excessive commitment to attain net-zero targets,” said Dhar.

The G20 is a group of 20 major economies, including Britain, China, Japan, the European Union and the United States, which together account for 80 per cent of global gross domestic production and 75 per cent of international trade.

Fortunately, global awareness to open an easier path to climate finance has increased, as heatwaves have scorched rich and poor nations alike, underscoring the little time to lose over politics, observers say.

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