Leaders of the Group of 20 nations on Monday doubled down on commitments to join the Paris Agreement on climate change as quickly as possible, “We reiterate our commitment to sustainable development and strong and effective support and actions to address climate change. We commit to complete our respective domestic procedures in order to join the Paris Agreement as soon as our national procedures allow,” the leaders said in a communique released at the conclusion of the G20 Summit in Hangzhou, China.
Currently, only two G20 nations have formally joined the Paris Agreement, which will enter into force 30 days after 55 nations representing at least 55 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions have joined.
China and the United States, the world’s top two GHG emitters, announced Saturday that they had formally joined the accord. The addition of the two countries brought the tally to 26 nations representing 39.06 percent of global emissions. “We welcome those G20 members who joined the Agreement and efforts to enable the Paris Agreement to enter into force by the end of 2016 and look forward to its timely implementation with all its aspects,” the communique says.
G20 member nations Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Indonesia, Japan, and Mexico have committed to ratifying the agreement before 2017. The additions of these nations would bring the tally to 33 nations representing 52.82 percent of global emissions. “Now tantalizingly close to entering into force, the Paris Agreement is destined to become one of the most swiftly enacted treaties in history. Given the scale and urgency of the challenge, other countries should do their part to make the Agreement fully operational as soon as possible,” Paula Caballero, global director of the Climate Program at the World Resources Institute, said in a press release.
The group of nations also addressed the call for an end to fossil fuel subsidies, though did not take the decisive action environmentalists have sought. “We also reaffirm our commitment to rationalize and phase-out inefficient fossil fuel subsidies that encourage wasteful consumption over the medium term, recognizing the need to support the poor,” the communique says.
“Leaders missed the chance to set a firm date to phase out fossil fuel subsidies, which in 2014 reached $550 billion globally. But countries should take the G20’s call for voluntary peer reviews of subsidy reform as a hint of what may come,” Caballero said.
Ahead of the summit, three European insurance companies – Aviva plc, Aegon NV, and MS Amlin, as well as the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries and Open Energi – called on the governments to phase out fossil fuel subsidies by 2020.