G20 bloc fails to reach agreement on phasing out fossil fuels

(Patria) - The Group of 20 major economies (G20) meeting in India on Saturday failed to reach a consensus on phasing out fossil fuels after objections from some producer countries.

Scientists and activists are outraged by the delay of international bodies in taking action to curb global warming, even though extreme weather from China to the United States highlights the climate crisis the world is facing, Reuters writes.

G20 member countries together account for more than three-quarters of global emissions and gross domestic product, and the group's cumulative decarbonization effort is crucial in the global fight against climate change.

However, disagreements, including a planned tripling of renewable energy capacity by 2030, led officials to issue an outcome statement and a chair's summary instead of a joint communique at the end of their four-day meeting in Bambolim, in the Indian coastal state of Goa.

A joint communique is issued when there is full agreement among member states on all issues.

"We had full agreement on 22 out of 29 paragraphs, and seven paragraphs constitute the chair's summary," said Indian Minister of Energy R.K. Singh.

Sections calling on developed countries to meet the goal of jointly mobilizing $100 billion annually for climate action in developing economies from 2020 to 2025, as well as a description of the war in Ukraine, also lacked consensus.

The use of fossil fuels became a major point in the day-long discussions, but officials failed to reach a consensus on curbing "unabated" use and argued over the language to describe the path to emission reduction, two sources familiar with the matter said.

A draft seen by Reuters states: "The importance of making efforts to gradually reduce the use of fossil fuels, in line with different national circumstances, has been emphasized."

However, the chair's statement released on Saturday evening included the concerns of some member countries that were missing from Friday's draft, noting that "others have different views on whether waste reduction and removal technologies will solve such problems."

Singh told a press briefing after the conference that some countries want to use carbon "capture" instead of phasing out fossil fuels. He did not name the countries.

Major fossil fuel producers Saudi Arabia, Russia, China, South Africa, and Indonesia are known to oppose the goal of tripling renewable energy capacity this decade.