Good news for progress at Cop29 came not from Baku but from Rio de Janeiro early on the morning of day eight of the log jammed talks, writes Fiona Harvey, Guardian environment editor.
The G20 communique contained key lines on the climate that confirmed the world would transition away from fossil fuels.
The leaders of the G20 group of the biggest developed and developing economies met in Brazil to talk geopolitics, and climate was high on the agenda – despite the reluctance of countries such as Saudi Arabia, Russia and India.
At Baku, the Saudis have tried hard to unpick the resolution to transition away from fossil fuels, made a year ago. They tried to sideline it into discussions of finance at the early agenda meetings. A large coalition of developed and developing countries pushed back on this, keeping the transition language in play. But it has been a tough fight, with some delegations grumbling that the Cop presidency was not sufficiently on the ball on the issue.
The boost from the G20 will help those trying to get strong affirmatory language on the transition as a key outcome from Cop29.
The term “transition away from fossil fuels” was not in the G20 communique, but the document – signed off on by all G20 leaders – referred to the outcome of the Cop28 talks a year ago in Dubai. At that meeting, the resolution to “transition away from fossil fuels” was contained in paragraph 28 of the outcome under the “global stocktake”.
The G20 said:
We welcome and fully subscribe to the ambitious and balanced outcome of the UN Climate Change Conference in Dubai (COP28), in particular the UAE Consensus and its first Global Stocktake of the Paris Agreement (GST-1).
We will respond positively to the GST-1 encouragement for Parties to the Paris Agreement to come forward in their next nationally determined contributions with ambitious, economy-wide emission reduction targets, covering all greenhouse gases, sectors and categories and aligned with limiting global warming to 1.5 C, as informed by the latest science, in the light of different national circumstances.
It may seem convoluted, but this is a boost to Cop29 and this seeking to ensure the Cop28 resolution to transition away from fossil fuels is built on and not abandoned. Civil society groups cheered the move.
Jasper Inventor, Head of COP29 Greenpeace Delegation, said:
This is a positive signal from the G20, that despite their differences, they’ve reaffirmed their support for an agreement to be reached at Cop29 on the new climate finance goal. This momentum must now be translated into concrete outcomes in Baku. Amid slow Cop29 progress, the world must find ways to keep bridging divisions because the escalating climate impacts will not spare any country and jointly taking action is in all our best interests.
The finance goal to be agreed at Cop29 needs to significantly scale up public finance and it’s time for the polluting fossil fuel industry to pay up as a critical source of financing. We hope the G20 declaration will propel talks in Baku to the positive outcome the world desperately needs.
G20 reaffirmation of the Cop28 Global Stocktake and a commitment to respond to that in their climate action plans, due next year, is likewise welcomed. Accounting for around 75% of global emissions, the G20 has a responsibility to lead climate action, so it was disheartening they did not explicitly reaffirm the landmark Cop28 language on the transition away from fossil fuels. This is an agenda that must now be at the heart of Brazil’s Cop30 presidency.
Brazil’s leadership at the G20 is an important step, demonstrating its commitment to driving bold action to address the climate crisis. By uniting like-minded countries, Brazil can set the tone for decisive climate action, rallying the world’s largest economies towards a strong multilateral collaboration around climate. This leadership is pivotal to ensuring Cop30 delivers ambitious outcomes, reinforcing the global commitment needed to stop the climate crisis.
Responding to the outcome of the G20, Christian Aid’s Global Advocacy Lead, Mariana Paoli, from Brazil, said.
In their communiqué it was encouraging to see the G20 countries recognising that climate finance needs to be in trillions, not billions. That is the scale of the need in developing countries facing the climate crisis and is what the outcome at Cop29 needs to address. Public finance is essential to deliver the climate finance goal.
For a long time vulnerable nations and civil society have been pushing governments to adopt innovative taxation to raise the needed finance for climate change. So it’s good to see the communiqué talk about the role of taxation on the ultra-rich individuals who are often some of the biggest polluters. Making polluters pay and addressing tax dodging are additional elements that should be considered.
We have a few days left here in Baku to build on this signal received from Brazil and agree a transformative new finance goal which actually shows rich nations are taking the climate crisis seriously.
It was disappointing that there was no clear call for fossil fuel phase out and the role dirty energy has played in causing the climate crisis. The human cost of inaction on fossil fuels will be paid in the lives and livelihoods of the most vulnerable.