Climate Change and the G20 Summit 2023

Source: The Environment

Climate change is a prevalent and long-standing problem that has caused a ripple effect, putting the environment that we inhabit at stake. It can be simply understood as a long-term alteration in the Earth's average weather patterns and global temperatures. The underlying reason for this has been traced back to human activities, particularly the emission of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels, deforestation, and industrial processes. Climate change, as we know it, has far-reaching and detrimental effects on the world, impacting both the environment as well as human societies. Certain effects like rising temperatures have consequences like various significant impacts on health and agriculture and have even been contributing to the melting of glaciers, rise of sea level, extreme weather fluctuations, degrading biodiversity, and many more. International organizations and countries have only recently taken cognizance of the truly disastrous effects that climate change can leave in its wake, however, countries have attempted to redress such grievances through significant steps like agreements, treaties, summits, and the setting up of international organisations.

Some of the most notable measures taken by most of the countries of the world are, first, the Kyoto Protocol, which was a precursor to the Paris Agreement and set binding targets for emission reduction for the developed countries. This was followed by the Paris Agreement, which was a more successful framework established by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change that aimed at limiting global warming. Lately, the ‘Group of 20’ summits (G20) with twenty member nations provide major economies with a platform to discuss these issues. Lastly, other initiatives like the European Union's emissions trading system, and the Global Green Growth Institute, SDGs by the UN, etc. are platforms for discussions on climate change.

As part of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the United Nations (UN) has prioritised projects that particularly aid the world's energy transition and address the situation we're now facing. An energy crisis or energy shortage is a significant bottleneck in the supply of energy resources to an economy. With depleting non-renewable energy sources, countries must look for more practical and renewable sources to function which could lead the energy sector in achieving all the SDGs. Fighting poverty, ensuring food safety, improving public health, and providing access to high-quality education, are all intertwined with the provisions of modern energy services. Sustainable industrialisation, improved health, and enhanced productivity may all be traced back to the availability of reliable and affordable energy sources. Currently, countries are still far from achieving the SDGs' goal of providing everyone with reliable, low-cost sustainable energy. This clean energy, also known as renewable energy, is derived from nature and is capable of being recycled in a shorter amount of time than fossil energy, and hence has a lesser negative effect on society, culture, health, and the environment. If countries can seamlessly transfer to this energy method, it would benefit the climate change action extensively.

Seemingly a timeworn concept that has yielded no noteworthy results, renewable energy is still very relevant and vital. However, it hasn't been used to its full potential, despite its resources being almost infinite. The power of the sun, the wind, the waves, the earth's core heat, and the wave energy are all examples. Thirty percent of the world's population still uses conventional fossil fuels for day-to-day activities, which may cause serious consequences to the climate, earth, and people. The annual increase in this figure does not bode well for our chances of achieving the clean and cheap energy target by the year 2030. The public, alone, is not to be held accountable because a human being must be close to an energy source to use it. Over sixty percent of the global population is projected to have access to renewable electrical energy by 2050, however, unless decision-makers invest heavily in a centralised renewable energy industry, this worldwide access to energy will remain rhetoric (IEA, 2021).

As per Amitabh Kant, G20 Sherpa, the 2023 presidency of G20 has been the most successful yet and this can be attributed to the Deccan high-level principles on food security, Chennai’s high-level principles for blue ocean economy, Goa’s roadmap for tourism, Gandhinagar’s implementation roadmap for land restoration or Jaipur’s call for enhanced MSMEs. (TOI, 2023). To explain, briefly, what the signatories of G20 have undertaken, to tackle climate change, being major economies, one can begin by describing G20 which is collective action in tackling environmental challenges and climate change while promoting transitions towards more flexible, transparent, and cleaner energy systems. The OECD supports the G20 Presidency’s work, building on its extensive expertise in green growth, clean and climate-resilient infrastructure, fossil fuel subsidies, energy regulation, green finance and investment, environmental taxation, and Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG).

One of the most successful initiatives of G20 is the ‘Green Development Pact’ that recognises that the present and future generations can be prosperous only if current development and other policy choices and actions resolve environmentally sustainable practices and inclusive economic growth. Every signatory came together to focus on this pact; an undertaking that has financing and will focus on cutting down global greenhouse gas emissions by 43% before 2030, which has a doubling provision of adaptive finance by 2025. Further, it also has a global biofuel alliance, completely new principles of life for sustainable development, solutions for plastic pollution, and the ability to reduce disaster risk. (IRENA, 2023).

Focusing on G20’s proposal to triple renewable energy capacity by 2030 globally, it aims to do so through fossil subsidies and by coming up with creative solutions by accruing billions of dollars to fund climate finance. The G20 summit contained several climate change elements to be able to achieve the essence of the Paris Agreement of reducing the rise in global temperature by 2˚C before 2030. However, while stating the plans and policies that these countries have deliberated upon to gain an upper hand over rapidly changing climate issues, it is also imperative to note that mere ambition is insufficient to address climate change without appropriate implementation. Unfortunately, climate change is the consequence of years of depletion of resources and extremely unsettling activities by people. Thus, it is simply irrational and naïve to think that the simultaneous implementation of several “protective” measures within a short span can undo the current situation. Countries’ aim lie in a primitive stage wherein, to uphold the temperature goal of the Paris Agreement as below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, they wish to simultaneously employ several solutions. This will, no doubt, prove successful in some countries and an utter failure in others as not all countries are at the same stage of growth and development and do not have access to the same political, economic, and social resources. Therefore, the effect of these initiatives could be extremely inconsistent.

In conclusion, countries have taken cognizance of the severe consequences of climate change and the need for global cooperation to mitigate its effects. While progress has been made, continued efforts are required to reduce emissions, transition to sustainable energy sources, and adapt to the changing climate to ensure a more sustainable and resilient future for all.

References

International Energy Agency, “Net Zero by 2050: A Roadmap for the Global Energy Sector”,

May, (2021). 

International Renewable Energy Agency, "World Energy Transitions Outlook 2023”, Volume 1, (2023). 

Times of India, “India got 100% consensus on New Delhi Declaration: G20 Sherpa Amitabh

Kant”, September 9, (2023).

About the author: I am Aparajitha Balasubramanian, a 4th year law student who loves reading and writing. I have a penchant for researching and a keenness for international relations and conflicts.