British Prime Minister Johnson describes the G20 commitments as “falling into a rapidly warming ocean”. And according to environmental organizations and activists, promises made aren’t helping either.
Many world leaders say progress has been made. French President Macron and Italian Prime Minister Draghi describe it as a success. “The commitments of the leaders of the G20 are great,” Draghi said. “It is easy to imagine difficult things, but it is very difficult to actually do them,” he told reporters after the summit.
Rota: It’s sharper in him
German Chancellor Merkel described the ‘Rome’ result as a positive sign for the COP26 summit in Glasgow. Outgoing Prime Minister Ruta is also an optimist. “For the first time in years in the G20, we have really come to conclusions: in fact it is a reaffirmation of the Paris summit in 2015, but then it was suppressed more sharply. Countries are running about 1.5 degrees. It is much sharper in it.”
Rota is also optimistic that the G20 nations will eventually bid farewell to fossil energy. “What he’s also saying is that we need to get rid of reinvestment in coal as quickly as possible. This is a really serious improvement.”
Insufficient
By the way, recent studies have shown that climate plans in many countries are largely insufficient to achieve the goals set in Paris. The United Nations Environment Agency concluded this week that, based on the latest plans for about 120 countries, the Earth is headed toward a 2.7 degree temperature increase this century. Such a scenario would have dire consequences, the agency said.
The main focus of the G20 summit was on climate change, but decisions were also made in other areas. For example, world leaders have formally approved a tax of at least 15 percent for multinational corporations.
Root: Profit tax for multinational corporations is important
“We are very supportive of this happening in an international context,” Rutte said. “You can also see it in President Joe Biden, who broadly describes it as a success for the G-20. That shows how important it is.”
The tax decision has also been criticized. According to organizations such as Oxfam Novib and Tax Justice Network, the plan does not come close to original ambitions. Plus, big companies can still avoid having to pay more taxes in other ways, interest groups say.
