The 11th summit of the Group of 20 major economies (G20) that took place in Hangzhou, China, on 4 and 5 September, reached a consensus on pursuing an “innovative, invigorated, interconnected and inclusive world economy”.
To that end, the communique that concluded the meeting on Monday reaffirms the G20 Leaders’ determination to take into account the two major international and interlinked universal treaties clinched in 2015, namely the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement.
The G20 reiterated their commitment to both sustainable development and fighting climate change. In order to do so, they committed to join the Paris Agreement as soon as possible and recognised the need for means of implementation for other countries, including financial resources, and the importance to assist them, namely through the Green Climate Fund.
Under under this sustainable future umbrella, the G20 Leaders also included their hopes regarding outcomes to emerge from the next meetings of the Montreal Protocol and the International Civil Aviation Organisation.
Excerpts from the G20 communique:
“We reiterate our commitment to sustainable development and strong and effective support and actions to address climate change.
“We commit to complete our respective domestic procedures in order to join the Paris Agreement as soon as our national procedures allow.
“We welcome those G20 members who joined the Agreement and efforts to enable the Paris Agreement to enter into force by the end of 2016 and look forward to its timely implementation with all its aspects.
“We affirm the importance of fulfilling the UNFCCC commitment by developed countries in providing means of implementation including financial resources to assist developing countries with respect to both mitigation and adaptation actions in line with Paris outcomes.
“We reaffirm the importance of the support provided by the Green Climate Fund.
“We welcome the G20 Climate Finance Study Group report on ‘Promoting Efficient and Transparent Provision and Mobilisation of Climate Finance to Enhance Ambition of Mitigation and Adaptation Actions’.
“We look forward to successful outcomes in related multilateral fora, including the Montreal Protocol and the International Civil Aviation Organisation.”
