Iran Press/Asia: The US president Donald Trump is understood to have been pressing states including Brazil, Australia, and Saudi Arabia to join him in keeping any reference to climate change and the Paris climate agreement on reducing carbon emissions out of the summit communique.
According to The Independent, at one point it seemed possible that the leaders would be unable to agree a final statement at all. French president Emmanuel Macron, the architect of the climate deal, reportedly warned he would refuse to sign off a joint statement unless it was included.
But the communique eventually agreed at the conclusion of the two-day gathering in Osaka, Japan, repeated earlier commitments by 19 of the G20 members to the “irreversibility” of the Paris accord and its full implementation.
As in last year’s summit in Argentina, the statement noted that the US had pulled out of the climate agreement and was not committed to deliver on its goals.
British Prime Minister Theresa May welcomed the final outcome, though she said it had not been “easy” to achieve. She made clear she regarded it as a success that the 20 members – 19 countries and the EU – had been able to fashion a statement that all could sign.
“There is a communique from this summit and I think that is important,” she said.
May added: “What you see in that communique is a continuation of the support that 19 members of the G20 have for the Paris agreement. Nineteen countries have come together and reconfirmed our commitment to the irreversibility of the Paris agreement and our commitment to putting that agreement into place.”
The UK is bidding in partnership with Italy to host the COP26 climate summit in 2020, a major gathering expected to attract up 30,000 delegates including over a hundred world leaders.
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