In Rome a few hours before G20: COP26 the weather counting bell rang

A few hours before the opening of COP26, it’s time to take part in the G20 in Rome: the leaders of the world’s major economies meet on Sunday to hold final and difficult talks on their climate commitment.

While the G20 represents almost 80% of global pollution emissions, its heads of state and heads of state must set the tone before joining the UN Climate Summit in Glasgow to set their more or less long-term objectives in the face of global warming. .

“We must not leave those behind us, victims of conflict, wasted resources, and those who cannot reconcile the need for a legitimate will for economic and social development with the selfish compromise of the environment. To protect what does not belong to us,” Italian President Sergio Materella told the G20 leaders at the Guerrero Palace on Saturday evening.

“The eyes of millions, of entire people, are on us and the results we can achieve,” he told them.

G20 leaders on Saturday, even in thorny subjects, taxation in this matter, showed that they can overcome their differences: they approved a minimum 15% tax for multinationals.

But talks had to continue until the last minute to find a climate deal.

– Ambition or consensus –

Visitors and voluntary charities will scrutinize the final press release, with its working editions filmed all weekend in Rome, the content of which will be decided during a closed session for Sunday newspapers.

According to UN climate experts (IPCC), one of the main objectives is to do everything possible to control global warming to + 1.5 ° C compared to the pre-industrial era, which may already reach 2030. What was at stake in the negotiations that focused on the date set for achieving carbon neutrality: 2050? 2060?

The Italian presidency was pushed for ambitious purposes, but some members of the G20 – dependent on emerging, coal or hydrocarbon producers – are very reluctant and want to see more restrictive formulas attacked, especially concrete means of achieving specific ambitions. . On carbon neutrality, consensus can hold the horizon for “half a century.”

Everything will be decided during the discussion between the leaders on Sunday morning and lunch, ”said the Environmental NGO Manager.

“It is time for the G20 members to do their utmost in Rome to make a meaningful contribution to Glasgow and this COP26,” French President Emmanuel Macron du Dimanche underlined in the magazine. “I would also like to say that nothing was written before the COP. In Paris, in 2015, we must not forget that nothing was decided in advance. In the last hours, some states threatened to withdraw. But there was two years of diplomatic work, and cooperation between Europe, the United States and China is absolutely necessary.”

– G20 without China –

These announcements are expected to be urgent: the UN has warned that recent emission reduction confirmations from planetary conditions could lead to a “catastrophic” + 2.7 ° C warming.

The G20 stands without China – the world’s largest emitter of greenhouse gases than the United States – nor have Russia, Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin retreated from their countries due to health conditions.

They spoke via video conference during the finance and health session on Saturday, and they will speak again on Sunday. But their empty chairs in Rome cause some fear of a missed encounter in history.

“From epidemic to climate change, with fair and equitable taxation, it is not an option to walk alone,” said Mario Tragi, head of the Italian government, at the start of the summit.

Experts believe that the best display, the call for more ambition in the next ten years will be the G20 press release.

“China has no chance of achieving a path of compliance with 1.5 C without doing much this decade,” said Alton Meyer, analyst at E3G.

Prince Charles, one of the guest speakers on Sunday morning, is very sensitive for environmental reasons and, according to his services, should remind world leaders of “their responsibility to crush the unborn generations”.

In an interview with the BBC in early October, he expressed concern that international leaders were “talking nonsense” on COP26.