As COP27 begins to a close, the G20 has held its 17th meeting, and leaders three have agreed to pursue efforts to that would keep to the Paris Agreement and accelerate the end of coal use, adding some meat to developed nations commitments.

COP27 is still chasing down a final deal that will cut emissions and scale up finance for countries being ravaged by climate impacts, but the issue of "loss and damage" funding has the potential to derail any deal and lead to COP27 becoming seen as a failure.

Whilst progress has slowed at COP27 due to being stuck on the thorny issues of financial aid/reparations, at least the G20 Summit has delivered some rays of hope with a declaration issued at the end of the meeting which said: "We resolve to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5C". The message also contained the commitment to “meaningful and effective actions” and a call to speed up responses.

In a sign that it is serious in this aim, the declaration also highlighted the goal of phasing out fossil fuel subsidies that have long been a bone of contention.

Share Story: