G20 ministers address ways to reduce impact of climate crisis
Jakarta, Aug 31 (EFE).- G20 environment ministers on Wednesday discussed measures to mitigate the impact of the climate crisis, including financial and technological initiatives, at a meeting on the Indonesian island of Bali.
The meeting took place amid severe flooding in Pakistan, which has affected a third of the country and caused more than 1,000 deaths in a disaster that has been blamed on climate change, as well as divisions among the group over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Indonesian environment minister Siti Nurbaya Bakar, whose country is chairing this year’s G20, told a press conference that the meeting addressed the protection of ecosystems to reduce the impact of the climate crisis and the efforts needed to reduce pollution and gas emissions, as well as how sustainable global finance can contribute to solving the environmental crises.
Bakar urged countries to urgently collaborate so that temperatures do not reach 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels, the target set out in the Paris Treaty to avoid extremely destructive disasters caused by climate change.
The fact that there was no mention of the final joint statement that usually follows such meetings suggests that there was no consensus, which was already the case at the recent G20 meetings of foreign and finance ministers in July.
Wednesday’s meeting was attended by 362 delegates, including 17 ministers and 11 deputy ministers, of whom 330 attended in person and another 32 attended virtually.
Among those present were US Special Climate Envoy John Kerry and Chinese Deputy Environment Minister Zhao Yingmin, as well as environment delegates from India, Change Bhupender; Australia, Tanya Plibersek; and the European Commission, Virginijus Sinkevičius, among others.
The G20 is scheduled to hold its leaders’ summit in Bali in November, which Russian president Vladimir Putin is expected to attend.
It would be the first time Putin has sat in the same room with other US and European leaders since Moscow invaded Ukraine, a move which has led to a raft of Western sanctions against Russia. EFE
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