G20 sends tepid climate finance signals in a divided world

Unlike the New Delhi declaration of 2023, the world’s biggest economies had shied away from detailed financial commitments or timelines on climate finance

On the day that leaders of the world’s top 20 economies met to decide their priorities in the face of two bloody global conflicts and a weakening economic system in the hottest year ever recorded in human history, COP29 president Mukhtar Babayev asked them for a “positive signal”. And he did receive one. But only half-hearted.

“We look forward to a successful New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG) outcome in Baku,” said the joint declaration issued by the G20 leaders. “We pledge our support to the COP29 Presidency and commit to successful negotiations in Baku.”

What remained unsaid were explicit commitments or numbers that the COP29 presidency would have hoped to receive as directions for negotiators in Baku. Unlike the New Delhi declaration of 2023, the world’s biggest economies had shied away from detailed financial commitments or timelines on climate finance.

And while this omission has raised concerns among climate advocates, it could also partly be attributed to not wanting to directly influence the processes at the Conference of Parties, where negotiators are trying to reach a new annual goal for funds that the developed countries are to make available for developing ones under the Paris Agreement.

This is in stark contrast to last year’s G20 declaration from New Delhi, which stood out for providing more detailed and measurable commitments on climate finance, with mechanisms to increase private sector investments. More direct lines on funding would certainly have been a sign of a more bold show of leadership.

Yet, this year’s G20 is being held in a very different world. Global conflicts in Ukraine and Palestine have diverted attention, funds, eroded global trust and the global economy that is at its weakest since 2008. The world’s largest economy will have a climate sceptic at its helm in two months and the outgoing leadership is too weak to manoeuvre a stronger commitment. Not to mention leadership changes affected by national elections in about 60 nations this year. 

Seen in this light, the fewer concrete figures or deadlines in this year’s declaration in Rio de Janeiro make sense. The G20 emphasised climate finance through a social justice lens, addressing historical inequities to ensure inclusive support for vulnerable countries and marginalised communities. And focused on concessional finance, emphasising grants and concessional loans for climate projects in the least-developed and climate-vulnerable countries, preventing unsustainable debt.

What does not add up, though, is that the declaration did not explicitly endorse a transition away from fossil fuels. This absence has been interpreted as a reluctance to fully commit to the energy transition necessary to meet global climate targets.

The G20’s focus on broader economic and social issues, such as poverty reduction and global inequality, may have overshadowed more specific climate commitments.

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Anushka Mohite

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