U.S., EU override Australia to put climate change on G20 agenda

Lincoln Feast and Jane Wardell PlanetArk 17 Nov 14;

U.S., EU override Australia to put climate change on G20 agenda Photo: David Gray
Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott (R) stands near Russian President Vladimir Putin after officially welcoming him to the G20 leaders summit in Brisbane November 15, 2014.
Photo: David Gray

The G20 communique will include a significant passage on climate change, EU officials said on Sunday, as the United States and other heavyweight nations override host Australia's attempts to keep the issue off the formal agenda.

Much of the meeting of world leaders in Australia has been overshadowed by the crisis in Ukraine, with Western leaders warning Russian President Vladimir Putin that he risked more economic sanctions if he failed to end Russian backing for separatist rebels.

On Sunday, momentum swung back to other major concerns for the Group of 20 leading economies, including climate change.

That is something of an embarrassment for Australia, which had argued it was not a clear economic issue and so should not be discussed at the G20. Indeed, Prime Minister Tony Abbott has questioned the science behind climate change.

"The most difficult discussion was on climate change," an EU official told reporters on condition of anonymity. "This was really trench warfare, this was really step by step by step. In the end we have references to most of the things we wanted."

The official said the passage included practical measures that countries could take and a reference to contributing to the Green Climate Fund, which U.S. President Barack Obama committed $3 billion to on Saturday.

The United States and Europe led the push to have climate change discussed at the meeting, with Obama using a speech on Saturday to warn that Australia's iconic Great Barrier Reef was under threat.

"Here in the Asia Pacific nobody has more at stake when it comes to thinking about and then acting on climate change," Obama said. "Here in Australia it means longer droughts, more wildfires."

Asked on Sunday if he accepted that climate change was potentially one of the biggest impediments to global economic growth, Australian Treasurer Joe Hockey said: "No. No I don't. Absolutely not."

"You just look at China. China is going to continue to increase emissions to 2030," he said. "Australia is doing the same amount of work on climate change as the United States over a 30-year period. Frankly, what we're focused on is growth and jobs."

ANTI-CORRUPTION

EU officials said the communique, likely to be three pages, down from 27 last year, would also include an anti-corruption action plan.

China had agreed to a G20 deal aimed at cracking down on companies masking their ownership, after initial concerns about the proposal, the EU official said.

"This was difficult for China but they managed to clear that," the official said.

A working group at the Group of 20, under Australia's Attorney-General's Department, has been seeking agreement on how to improve beneficial ownership transparency and combat the use of shell companies that can hide ill-gotten money or avoid taxation. China had said on Thursday an agreement was still in discussions.

PRESSURE ON RUSSIA

The separatist war in eastern Ukraine, where more than 4,000 people have been killed since April, is expected to be discussed further on Sunday after a series of one-on-one meetings between Putin and leaders including Obama.

The European Union has demanded Moscow withdraw troops and weapons from Ukraine and put pressure on rebels there to accept a ceasefire, after the latest fighting wrecked a truce agreed in September.

Obama, who met with key regional allies Abbott and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe early on Sunday, is due to meet with European leaders to discuss Ukraine later in the day. EU foreign ministers will meet on Monday to consider further steps, including additional possible sanctions on Russia.

Western nations have imposed successive rounds of sanctions on Moscow, accusing it of sending troops and tanks to back pro-Russian rebels fighting to break away from Ukraine. Russia denies the charges.

On Saturday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov denied speculation that Putin would leave the summit early, saying he would take part in all G20 events.

(Additional reporting by Ian Chua, Matt Spetalnick and Matt Siegel in Brisbane; Editing by John Mair)

G20 pledges lift Green Climate Fund towards $10 billion U.N. goal
Alister Doyle PlanetArk 17 Nov 14;

A promise by Japan on Sunday to give up to $1.5 billion to a U.N. fund to help poor nations cope with global warming puts the fund within sight of a $10 billion goal and brightens prospects for a U.N. climate pact next year.

Japan's pledge, at the G20 meeting of world leaders in Australia, raises the total promised to the Green Climate Fund (GCF) to $7.5 billion, including up to $3 billion by U.S. President Barack Obama on Saturday.

The Seoul-based GCF Secretariat in a statement hailed the pledges as a turning point before a first donors' conference in Berlin on Thursday. The United Nations has set an informal target of raising $10 billion this year.

The cash, to help emerging economies curb their greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to changes such as heatwaves, mudslides and rising sea levels, is widely seen as vital to unlock a U.N. climate deal meant to be agreed in late 2015 in Paris.

"These pledges bring us a giant step closer reaching a global climate agreement in Paris," said Athena Ballesteros of the World Resources Institute think-tank.

Hela Cheikhrouhou, executive director of the GCF, said she hoped the U.S. and Japanese pledges and an unexpected G20 focus on climate change would translate into further significant contributions by other countries.

Nations including Britain, Italy, Canada and Australia have yet to announce pledges. Among other big donors, Germany and France have previously each promised about $1 billion for a first round of funds for the GCF, lasting four years.

The GCF is a major part of a plan agreed in 2009 to raise financial flows to help developing nations tackle climate change, from public and private sources, to $100 billion a year by 2020.

G20 leaders put a spotlight on climate change despite efforts by host Australia to focus more narrowly on economic growth. [ID:nL3N0T44NX]

Christiania Figueres, head of the U.N. Climate Change Secretariat, welcomed the U.S. and Japanese pledges and other recent action on climate change, saying they had triggered a positive atmosphere for the Berlin meeting.

Last week, the United States and China set goals for curbing climate change, brightening prospects for Paris even though their promises, including Beijing's plan for a undefined peak in greenhouse gas emissions by around 2030, were vague.

(Editing by David Holmes)

Obama, in latest climate move, pledges $3 billion for global fund
Lincoln Feast and Timothy Gardner PlanetArk 17 Nov 14;

President Barack Obama on Friday pledged a $3 billion U.S. contribution to an international fund to help poor countries cope with the effects of climate change, putting the issue front and center of the G20 Leaders Summit in Australia.

The large size of the contribution took climate policy watchers by surprise and doubles what other countries had previously pledged ahead of a Nov. 20 deadline. It would be the second major move on climate change taken by Obama after big Democratic losses in last week's midterm elections.

"Along with other nations that have pledged support, we'll help vulnerable communities with early-warning systems, stronger defenses against storm surges, and climate-resilient infrastructure," Obama said in remarks ahead of the official opening of the G20 summit.

"We'll help farmers plant more durable crops. We'll help developing economies reduce their carbon pollution and invest in clean energy."

The timing of the announcement was seen as putting pressure Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott, who is hosting the summit and once described climate science as "absolute crap". Abbott had hoped the G20 summit would focus on growth and jobs.

"When most nations are saying we have to finance climate change responses, whatever Australia desires, it has to agree or it risks looking like the spoiler at what should be Australia's moment," Tim Costello, the head of World Vision Australia and the C20, or Civil Society 20, told Reuters.

Highlighting Australia's exposure to climate change, Obama said longer droughts and more wildfires were likely.

"The incredible natural glory of the Great Barrier Reef is threatened. Worldwide this past summer was the hottest on record. No nation is immune and every nation has a responsibility to do its part."

The Green Climate Fund will work with private sector investment and help spur global markets in clean energy technologies, creating opportunities for entrepreneurs and manufacturers including those from the United States.

"The fund will be able to deploy innovative instruments. That is the key distinguishing characteristic of the GCF; it has the opportunity to mobilize significant flows of private capital," Abyd Karmali, managing director of climate finance at Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BAC.N).

Rich countries had pledged in 2009 to mobilize $100 billion a year by 2020 to help developing countries tackle carbon emissions.

Earlier this week, Obama announced a climate deal with China. The United States will strive to cut total greenhouse emissions by about 25 percent by 2025, while China will aim for a peak in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.

In the run-up to the global climate talks in Paris next year, developing nations view finance as a vital part of any deal.

Hela Cheikhrouhou, executive director of the fund, lauded the U.S. pledge as a game-changer. "It could have a domino effect on all other contributions," she said.

The U.S. pledge roughly doubles the $3 billion already promised for the fund, which will hold a first donors' meeting in Berlin on Thursday.

Germany and France had earlier pledged $1 billion each, and Mexico, South Korea, Japan and others have pledged smaller amounts.

The UN has set an informal goal of raising $10 billion for the fund before a meeting of environment ministers in Peru, next month. Developing nations have been urging $15 billion.

Some environmentalists were unimpressed by the pledge. Friends of the Earth said $3 billion "falls magnitudes below what is actually needed by developing countries."

(Additional reporting by Ros Krasny and Valerie Volcovici in Washington, and Alister Doyle in Oslo; Editing by Susan Heavey, Bill Trott, David Gregorio and Michael Perry)