Searching for unity of purpose in a world beset by crisis

OTTAWA—U.S. President Joe Biden has recommitted his country and his power to the world of multilateral co-operation. But the G20 summit in Rome was still a lesson in the difficulties of significant diplomatic progress at a time of increasing nationalism and sharp North-South divisions. Even with the Pope urging them on, the leaders of the 20 economic powers accounting for 80 per cent of global carbon emissions failed in Rome to agree in their communiqué on achieving net-zero emissions by 2050, as environmentalists had hoped. Their largely symbolic wrap-up statement only talked of confronting global warming with “meaningful and effective” action. It had been hoped the G20 summit would provide a ringing commitment on climate change that would have added momentum to this week’s COP26 conference in Glasgow, Scotland, where 120 government leaders are debating tougher anti-GHG commitments. An attempt to win G20 agreement on phasing out coal, which is responsible for nearly half of all GHG emissions, was opposed by coal users and exporters such as China, India, and Russia. G20 leaders did agree to halt government funding for high-pollution coal-fired power plants in other countries. But they failed to reach consensus on cutting their own domestic coal use. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he would have liked to see stronger commitments from the summit but said the G20 still managed to make “significant progress” by generally recognizing that countries must work to keep global warming to 1.5 C. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who is hosting COP26, was blunter, saying the G20 leaders’ promises without action were “starting to sound hollow,” adding “these commitments ... are drops in a rapidly warming ocean.” Activists said the G20 commitments are not enough to slow global warming and will lead to the devastation of large parts of the world. “Their communiqué was weak, lacking both ambition and vision, and simply failed to meet the moment,” Jennifer Morgan of Greenpeace International said. Hopes of concerted action in Rome had been dampened with news that neither China’s President Xi Jinping nor Russia’s Vladimir Putin would be there, instead joining via video link. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson (pictured with U.S. President Joe Biden), who is hosting COP26, said the G20 leaders’ promises without action were ‘starting to sound hollow,’ adding ‘these commitments ... are drops in a rapidly warming ocean.’ No. 10 Downing Street photograph by Simon Dawson Having ended Donald Trump’s antagonistic treatment of America’s allies and reversed Trump's withdrawal from the Paris climate accord, Biden is a welcome addition to these international summits. But, although he clearly enjoys the face-to-face interactions, he is learning that not being Trump is in itself no guarantee of success in dealing with the host of intractable foreign issues on his plate. Good-faith diplomacy only goes so far, for instance, when the world is facing dual crises of COVID-19 and global warming, the Rome summit underscored. The G20 meeting reflected growing tensions between rich, industrialized nations and emerging economies on climate issues and on divergent economic rebounds from the pandemic, with developing countries far behind in vaccination rates and economic recovery. On climate, emerging economies resent demands for more emissions reductions when G20 countries have failed to honour their commitment to provide $100-billion per year to help developing countries combat and adapt to global warming. U.S. contributions to this climate aid package are considered insufficient even though Biden has pledged to double his country's allocation. In Rome, Biden did win G20 agreement for a global minimum corporate tax, patched up relations with France over AUKUS and with the European Union over tariffs. But he made little headway in addressing sharp differences with Turkey and seemed to be spinning his wheels in talks on renewing the Iran nuclear deal. As for U.S.-China co-operation, which animated international emissions-reducing activity a decade ago, it seems out of the question. Beyond the overall toxicity of the two countries’ relations today, China’s intransigence on climate goals stems in part from Xi's rejection of pressure for action by the U.S., which Beijing sees as an historical carbon culprit now trying to shift the blame onto developing countries. And Biden probably spiked any chance of detente on that score, saying before leaving Rome it was “disappointing” that G20 members Russia and China “basically didn’t show up” when it came to climate commitments. At COP26, Trudeau put the Liberals' vision on the line by announcing plans to cap Canadian oil and gas emissions and Biden joined the calls for a last-ditch campaign against global warming. But Biden’s credibility has been weakened by the log jam in Congress imperilling his legislation to fulfill U.S. emissions-reduction promises. While the far-reaching collective action needed to save the planet still seems out of reach, the G20 and COP26 do seem to have brought a new, long overdue urgency to the issue in capitals around the world. Leaders need to move quickly now to put effective GHG-reduction plans in place on a global scale during the narrow window before 2024, when Trump could be back in power in Washington. Les Whittington is a regular columnist for The Hill Times. The Hill Times