The leaders of the G20 began in Rome, Italy, this October 30 their first face-to-face summit since the pandemic broke out. The fight against Covid-19, the economic recovery and the climate, lead the discussions. Representatives of the main economies are expected to agree on commitments ahead of COP26, which will begin on Sunday in Glasgow, Scotland, considered key to curbing global warming.
An ambitious summit of the 20 main economies of the world. Although the G-20 meeting in Rome, Italy, is not a meeting exclusively dedicated to climate change, the environmental issue occupies the first order of the day, after the opening of the host, Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi.
According to the draft of the final communiqué that will be issued at the end of the two-day meeting, the group of 20 pledges to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. This is the level that scientists say is necessary to avoid disastrous new weather patterns.
The political leaders of the nations that represent 80% of the world economy and of polluting emissions are rushing to establish key agreements on this matter before moving to the COP26, which begins in Glasgow, Scotland, from this Sunday, October 31. It is considered the last significant opportunity to mitigate what is already considered the great world crisis: climate change.
“Failure in Cop26 could mean a massive migration and food shortages, struggle for water, for food, large movements of people (…) If you increase the planet’s temperatures by four degrees or more, as it is predicted that they will without Mercy, then these really very difficult geopolitical events will take place, “British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said in a round of interviews this Saturday.
However, he warned that the world is against the clock to stop the consequences that will be difficult to control. “We are not going to stop global warming in Rome or at this COP meeting (…) The most we can hope for is to stop the increase” in temperatures, he admitted.
On the eve of the summit, the UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, indicated that there is a risk of failing in the still lukewarm commitments of the big polluters and challenged the G-20 leaders to overcome “dangerous levels of mistrust. “among themselves and with developing countries.
“Let’s be clear: there is a serious risk that Glasgow will not comply,” Guterres said, noting that current formal commitments by governments “still doom the world to a dire 2.7 degree rise” in global temperatures.
Putin asks the G-20 “mutual recognition of vaccines”
About two years after the Covid-19 pandemic broke out, how to overcome the health crisis and its economic consequences also encompasses the focus of the G-20. However, priorities diverge and the fight is uneven.
President Vladimir Putin, who is participating in the meeting virtually, called for “mutual recognition of vaccines.” The Russian President referred to the refusal of the health authorities in the United States and Europe; as well as by the World Health Organization (WHO) to endorse its biological against the new coronavirus: Sputnik V.
The Russian injection against Covid-19, however, has been accepted in several Latin American countries such as Argentina and Mexico.
Previously, the International Monetary Fund has made it clear that the highest priority for economic recovery is simple: accelerate the vaccination of the world’s population.
However, in the framework of the summit, Guterres blamed geopolitical divisions for hindering the global immunization plan, since “it has taken a back seat to hoarding and nationalism of vaccines,” he said.
The United Nations representative explained that while in the richest countries people receive a third dose of the drugs, only 5% of Africans have been completely inoculated.
In this context and hours before his arrival in Rome, Johnson promised that the United Kingdom would donate 20 million doses of AstraZeneca to developing countries.
But failure to keep these kinds of promises delays the goal. Donated doses come to a tiny fraction of what is needed. Last week, an investigation by the People’s Vaccine Alliance revealed that only 14% of the drugs promised by the powers have reached the poorest nations.
Saudi Arabia promises to “support the stability of energy markets”
Another of the main concerns of world leaders revolves around the energy crisis. At a time when supply chain problems and rising electricity prices threaten several countries, including the most developed
Salman bin Abdulaziz, king of Saudi Arabia, one of the main producers of gas and oil on the planet, assured that he will continue to “support the stability and balance of the oil markets.”
Also, and during his speech remotely on the first day of the meeting, he affirmed that he supports the efforts to supply clean energy to the world.
US President Joe Biden is also expected to raise concerns about an imbalance in supply and demand in global energy markets.
Biden would underline the importance of finding greater stability in the marketing of fuels, for the sake of a global economy that has been badly hit by the pandemic.
So far, OPEC, led by Saudi Arabia and its allies, including Russia, have ignored Biden’s constant calls to increase production, at a faster rate than today, of 400,000 barrels a day each month, until next year.
With Reuters, AP and local media
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