Global climate finance took centre stage as G20 leaders in Rio reached a fragile consensus amidst heated debates, echoing unresolved tensions at COP29 in Baku. As major economies face mounting pressure to fund climate efforts, the future of global warming targets hangs in the balance.
RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) -Diplomatic tensions over global warming spilled over into the G20 summit negotiations in Brazil this week, with sources saying the 20 major economies reached a fragile consensus on climate finance that had eluded U.N. talks in Azerbaijan.
Heads of state arrived in Rio de Janeiro on Sunday for the G20 summit and will spend Monday and Tuesday addressing issues from poverty and hunger to the reform of global institutions. The talks must now also grapple with how to address escalating violence in Ukraine after a deadly Russian airstrike on Sunday.
Still, the ongoing U.N. climate talks have thrown a spotlight on their efforts to tackle global warming.
While the COP29 summit in Baku, Azerbaijan, is tasked with agreeing a goal to mobilize hundreds of billions of dollars for climate, leaders of the Group of 20 major economies half a world away in Rio are holding the purse strings.
G20 countries account for 85% of the world's economy and are the largest contributors to multilateral development banks helping to steer climate finance.
"The spotlight is naturally on the G20. They account for 80 percent of global emissions," U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres told reporters in Rio de Janeiro. He expressed concern about the state of the COP29 talks in Baku and called on G20 leaders to do more to fight climate change.
"Now is the time for leadership by example from the world's largest economies and emitters," Guterres said.
U.N. climate chief Simon Stiell wrote a letter to G20 leaders on Saturday imploring them to act on climate finance, including boosting grants for developing nations and advancing reforms of multilateral development banks.
However, the same fights that have plagued COP29 since it began last week became central to G20 negotiations, according to diplomats close to the Rio talks.
COP29 must set a new goal for how much financing should be directed from developed countries, multilateral banks and the private sector to developing nations. Economists told the summit it should be at least $1 trillion.
Wealthy countries, especially in Europe, have been saying that an ambitious goal can only be agreed if they expand the base of contributors to include some of the richer developing nations, such as China and major Middle Eastern oil producers.
On Saturday, discussions of a G20 joint statement in Rio snagged on the same issue, with European nations pushing for more countries to contribute and developing countries such as Brazil pushing back, diplomats close to the talks told Reuters.
But early Sunday morning, negotiators agreed to a text mentioning developing nations' voluntary contributions to climate finance, stopping short of calling them obligations, according to two diplomats.
The breakthrough remains overshadowed by the return to power of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, who is reportedly preparing to again pull the United States out of the Paris climate agreement. His election throws into doubt how much money the world can muster to address climate change, possibly without the support of the world's largest economy.
Trump is planning to roll back landmark climate legislation passed by outgoing President Joe Biden, who visited the Amazon rainforest when he made a stop there on Sunday on his way to Rio.
The success of not only COP29 but also the next U.N. climate summit, COP30 hosted in Brazil next year, hinges on an ambitious deal on climate finance.
A centerpiece of Brazil's COP30 strategy is "Mission 1.5," a drive to keep alive the Paris Agreement target of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. The U.N. estimates that current national targets would cause temperatures to rise by at least 2.6 degrees C.
Developing countries argue they can only raise their targets for emissions reductions if rich nations, who are the main culprits for climate change, foot the bill.
"It is technically possible to meet the goal of 1.5 degrees Celsius, but only if a G20-led, massive mobilization to cut all greenhouse gas emissions ... is achieved," said Bahamas Prime Minister Philip Davis at COP29 last week.
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The South Caucasus is witnessing a notable recalibration of geopolitical alignments, with Azerbaijan and Armenia both pursuing strategic partnerships with global powers, including the United States and China.
Torrential rain swept across the Gaza, flooding hundreds of tents and homes sheltering families displaced by years of conflict, raising concerns that the fragile truce may be cracking as authorities struggle to manage the growing humanitarian crisis.
World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Thursday that he still hopes the U.S. administration will reconsider its decision to withdraw from the organisation next month, warning that its exit would be a loss for the world.
The U.S. is expected to keep the cargo of a Venezuelan-linked tanker recently seized, as the vessel heads to an American port for a formal forfeiture process, officials said.
Scores of demonstrators gathered outside the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo Tuesday (9 December) to protest against the awarding of this year’s Nobel Peace Prize to Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado.
The world’s leading minds and voices will be honoured on Wednesday, 10 December, the anniversary of Alfred Nobel’s death, as Nobel Prizes are presented in Stockholm and Oslo.
In a dramatic Champions League clash at Baku’s Tofiq Bahramov Stadium, Qarabağ grabbed an early lead, but Ajax staged a thrilling comeback to win 4-2.
At least 19 people were killed and 16 injured as two buildings collapased in Morocco's Fes city according to the state news agency.
Iran's President Massoud Pezeshkian has begun a two day visit to Kazakhstan, with officials from both sides describing the trip as an opportunity to advance cooperation in trade, transport, industry, mining and cultural exchanges.
As the world marks the tenth anniversary of the Paris Agreement, the progress in combating climate change is mixed.
An extratropical cyclone has caused widespread disruption across Brazil’s São Paulo state, with powerful winds toppling trees and power lines, blocking streets and leaving large parts of the region without electricity.
Indonesia's military stepped up its relief efforts in three provinces on Sumatra island that have been devastated by deadly floods and landslides, and the country's vice president apologised for shortcomings in the response to last week's disaster.
Authorities in Senegal have launched urgent measures to prevent a potential oil spill after water entered the engine room of the Panamanian-flagged oil tanker Mersin off the coast of Dakar, the port authority said on Sunday.
The death toll from devastating floods across Southeast Asia climbed to at least 183 people on Friday (28 November). Authorities in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Sri Lanka struggle to rescue stranded residents, restore power and communications, and deliver aid to cut-off communities.
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