The News
World leaders at the G20 summit in Brazil watered down criticism of Russia over its war in Ukraine, but may have given global climate talks a much-needed boost. A statement following the summit’s first day of meetings in Rio de Janeiro referenced “human suffering” and “negative added impacts of the war,” but there was reduced focus on the conflict and less definitive language, the Financial Times noted.
The document did, however, reiterate the need for the world to commit to “rapidly and substantially increasing climate finance from billions to trillions from all sources,” Reuters wrote. The statement answered a plea from the host of the parallel COP29 summit to send a “positive signal” on the need to tackle climate change. The climate conference in Baku has been deadlocked on the crucial issue of financing developing countries’ shift to cleaner power sources.
SIGNALS
G20 nations signal weaker stance against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
Released a day before Russian President Vladimir Putin lowered the threshold to deploy nuclear weapons, the G20 countries’ statement did not condemn any Ukraine-related nuclear threats, and devoted only one paragraph — compared to seven in last year’s document — to the war in Ukraine, the Financial Times reported. The weakened support, including a refusal to outrightly condemn Moscow’s invasion, comes as Ukraine faces a ticking clock with incoming US President Donald Trump demanding, a quick, negotiated settlement to end the war. Some European delegates at the summit gave up their push to include stronger language against Russia over fears that a fight would result in no communique, reflecting the “wide gulf” between the West and countries like China with close ties to Moscow, the FT wrote.
Climate activists say G20 statement doesn’t go far enough
The statement from the G20 economies — and world’s leading emitters — called for “substantially increasing” financing to confront global warming. The UN’s climate chief said the G20 statement sent a “clear message” to the COP29 summit to reach a new financial goal. Negotiations at the climate conference in Baku have been hamstrung over disagreements between rich and emerging countries on climate financing. But activists feared the statement did not go far enough: “This vagueness of the G20 declaration risks undermining trust in the negotiations,” one told Reuters.