Country representatives at the G20 climate talks on Friday announced an agreement that solidified commitment towards the Paris Agreement of 2015. However, the diplomats failed to find consensus on setting limits on regulations relating to global warming.
Roberto Cingolani, the Italian minister for Ecological Transition said the negotiations at the meet were “particularly complex” but also added that the outcome was satisfactory.
“This deal is fundamental for opening the way to the COP26”, he said, according to reports from AFP.
Out of the 60 articles discussed in the diplomatic meet in Italy’s Naples, two were left undiscussed. The two articles will carry forward to the heads of state for a decision.
One involved the wording of limitations on global warming increases to 1.5 to 2% as set by the 2015 Paris Agreement, adopted by nearly 200 countries, said Cingolani, speaking to journalists.
The Paris Agreement calls to collectively cap warming at “well below” two degrees Celsius — and 1.5 degrees if possible, AFP reported.
“Everyone is committed to decarbonisation, the question is on the time scale,” Cingolani said. “Some countries risk economically not being able to do it.”
The Naples gathering came two weeks after the G20 meeting of finance ministers in Venice, in which the final statement cited carbon pricing as a possible tool to fight global warming.
“Everyone from China to India to the United States, Russia and European countries agreed that, especially after the pandemic phase, the energy transition to renewable energy is a tool for inclusive and fast socio-economic growth, job creation and must be a just transition that leaves no one behind,” read a communique published Friday evening after the ministers’ talks ended, according to reports from AFP.
COP26 will gather climate negotiators from 196 countries and the European Union, along with businesses, experts and world leaders in Glasgow between November 1-12.
COP26, which will be held in Scotland’s Glasgow, was previously scheduled for November 2020 but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.