G20 Information Centre provided by the G20 Research Group
	@g20rg G20 Summits |  G20 Ministerials |  G20 Analysis |  Search |  About the G20 Research Group [English]  [Français]  [Deutsch]  [Italiano]  [Portuguesa]  [Japanese]  [Chinese]  [Korean]  [Indonesian]

Analysis

The Rio Summit’s Breakthrough on Climate Finance

John Kirton, Director, G20 Research Group
November 18, 2024

In the early afternoon of Monday, November 18, 2024, on the G20 Rio Summit’s opening day, an apparently big breakthrough came on the summit’s critical issue of climate finance.

It was reported that on early Sunday morning, under Rio’s sunny blue skies, negotiators had agreed on a leaders’ summit communiqué that included a phrase noting developing countries’ voluntary contributions to climate finance.

At first glance this might seem like very little progress, given the enormous existential threat from climate change that the world now confronts. But the negotiators at the 29th Conference of the Parties (COP29) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Baku had failed to agree on this, so the onus was on the G20 in Rio, whose leaders controlled the money, to succeed where the UN had failed.

COP29 was designed to set a new goal for how much developed countries, multilateral development banks and the private sector should give to developing countries for climate finance, with at least $1 trillion estimated to meet the need. Some thought that much more was required.

But European and other rich countries argued that the donor base must be enlarged to include China, Middle Eastern oil producers and other rich emerging economies.

On Saturday, November 16, G20 negotiators on the leaders’ communiqué froze when the European members pushed their case and the developing countries – led by summit host Brazil – refused.

But then the compromise breakthrough words appeared.

To be sure, it did not call the developing countries’ addition “obligations,” but even voluntary contributions would start the ball rolling and recognize that all who could contribute should and would do some of their fair share.

Moreover, some feared that the inauguration of US president-elect Donald Trump would roll back this step and much else on climate change. But he could well agree that China should start to bear the climate finance burden as it was now by far the largest climate polluter in the world.

And this G20 leadership could even spur success on this issue at the UN itself, as its next climate conference, COP30, is scheduled to be held next year in Belém, Brazil, and hosted by the same President Lula da Silva who is presiding over the G20 Summit in Rio now.

[back to top]