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G20
ChinaDiplomacy

Biden ‘disappointed’ by Xi, Putin absences at G20 as leaders promise effort to limit global temperature rises, but fail to offer firm commitments

  • Final statement from Rome summit recognises that the 1.5C target will have a much lower impact than 2C but does not go beyond 2016 Paris Agreement goals
  • The talks concluded with US President Joe Biden calling Chinese and Russian contributions ‘disappointing’

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The G20 leaders represent the source of 80 per cent of the world’s carbon emissions. Photo: Reuters
Finbarr Berminghamin Rome
US President Joe Biden has criticised the absence of his Chinese and Russian counterparts, Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin, from the G20 Leaders’ Summit in Rome as “disappointing”, after the gathered heads signed off on a communique that promised to “pursue efforts” to limit global temperature rises but contained few new commitments.
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“There’s a reason why people should be disappointed” by Xi and Putin not making in-person appearances, Biden said. “I found it disappointing myself.”

He added: “You’re going to see we’ve made significant progress, and more has to be done, but it’s going to require us to continue to focus on what China’s not doing, what Russia is not doing and what Saudi Arabia is not doing.”

A breakthrough on climate issues came after all-night negotiations, with the final text, published on Sunday, saying that the leaders of the world’s richest nations “recognise that the impacts of climate change at 1.5C [above pre-industrial levels] are much lower than at 2C”.

“Keeping 1.5C within reach will require meaningful and effective actions and commitment by all countries, taking into account different approaches, through the development of clear national pathways that align long-term ambition with short and medium-term goals, and with international cooperation and support, including finance and technology, sustainable and responsible consumption and production as critical enablers, in the context of sustainable development,” it read.

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However, there appeared to be few new commitments on top of the Paris goals, adopted in 2015. The 1.5C target had already been contained in the agreement, while rich nations were unable to make a breakthrough on commitments to provide US$100 billion in climate financing to developing countries.

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