G-20 still deadlocked as China won't budge on climate goals

In Rome summit, topic of coal is also proving extremely tricky

Negotiations ahead of the Group of 20 summit in Rome dragged into Friday, stuck on energy and climate issues. Some countries singled out China, saying it is refusing to beef up commitments to limit temperature increases and digging in over coal, with Russia and India also dragging the chain.

The countries are set to commit to ending international funding for coal-fired power plants overseas during this weekend’s meeting but are struggling to agree on a date by when they’ll ditch supporting them at home, according to officials briefed on the talks.

In short, there is no progress from a meeting of environmental ministers three months ago, and with signs of a blame game starting to form, there is limited scope for the sherpas — as the officials doing the leg work on the communique are known — to make any progress. 

Wanting overseas coal addressed was formally raised by Italy back in July. It is looking likely that it will be down to leaders to step in aggressively when the summit formally kicks off on Saturday.

Xi plans G20 video address
 

Chinese President Xi Jinping will address a Group of 20 summit this weekend via video link, continuing his preference to stay home as his government takes a zero-tolerance approach to fighting the coronavirus.

Xi will make an “important speech” to the meeting in Rome, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said in a statement Friday.