The Group of 20 (G20) major economies meeting in Goa, India, which concluded on Saturday, July 22, failed to reach a consenus on cutting down fossil fuels. This was the G20's fourth energy transitions working group (ETWG) meeting.
Energy transition is the need of the hour to fight global warming and climate change. However, Saturday's meeting failed to reach an agreement after objections by some producer nations. The G20 member countries collectively account for more than three-quarters of global emissions as well as GDP. The group's cumulative effort towards decarbonising is critical in combating climate change.
Disagreements such as the intended tripling of renewable energ capacities in the next seven years resulted in the issue of an outcome statement and chair summary instead of a joint communique at the end of the four-day meeting in Goa, news agency Reuters reported. A joint communique is ussed when all member nations are in complete agreement on all issues.
India's power minister RK Singh said of the 29 paragraphs, the group had complete agreement on 22, while seven constituded the Chair summary.
The sections that urged developed countries to deliver on the goal of jointly-mobilising $100 billion per year for climate action from 2020 to 2025 and the description of the Ukraine war, were also the factors that eluded consensus.
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Fossil fuel use became a lightning rod in day-long discussions, but officials failed to reach consensus over curbing "unabated" use and argued over the language to describe the pathway to cut emissions, two sources familiar with the matter told the news agency Reuters. A draft late on Friday reviewed by Reuters read: "The importance of making efforts towards phase down of unabated fossil fuels, in line with different national circumstances, was emphasized."
However, the Chair statement, which was released on Saturday evening included concerns of some members, which were missing in Friday's draft, noting that "others had different views on the matter that abatement and removal technologies will address such concerns".
Without naming any countries, Singh in a press briefing after the conference also said some countries wanted to utilise carbon capture instead of phasing down fossil fuel emissions.
Carbon, capture, utilisation, storage (CCUS) involves capturing carbon dioxide from large point sources like industrial or power generation facilities that utilise either biomass or fossil fuels as fuel. The gas can also be captured from the atmosphere directly. If the captured gas is not used at the site, it is compressed and then transported via ship, pipeline, truck or rail, to be utilised in various applications or inserted into deep geological formations which trap the gas for permanent storage. These can also include depleted oil as well as gas reservoirs or even saline aquifers.
Major fossil fuel producers China, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia and South Africa are also known to oppose the goal of tripling renewable energy capacity in this decade, the news agency reported.
With inputs from Reuters
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