The G20 is meeting in Rome, will it be able to convince on the climate? – Orange News

AFP, published on Saturday, October 30, 2021 at 4:59 p.m.

“Broad support”, unsurprisingly, for the global taxation of multinationals, but uncertainty as to strong commitments for the climate: the leaders of the major G20 economies met on Saturday in Rome, the occasion also for discussions in smaller committees, in particular on Iranian nuclear power or Argentina’s debt.

A source close to the discussions reported “broad and cross-cutting support” during the first working session on Saturday for the 15% global minimum taxation on multinationals, which heads of state and government must endorse in their final press release on Sunday, with the objective of implementation by 2023.

“The United States and countries such as Brazil, France and Korea have given their explicit support for global minimum taxation,” the source said in particular.

Things are going to be more complicated on the climate, where many are calling for a strong signal on the eve of the opening Sunday of the COP26 meeting in Glasgow, Scotland.

Especially since the G20, which includes developed countries such as the United States and members of the European Union, but also the large emerging economies such as China, Russia, Brazil or India, represents 80% of global greenhouse gas emissions.

The defense of the environment was also one of the watchwords of the demonstrators who began to gather on Saturday afternoon in the streets of Rome. Various organizations (unions, far left, Fridays for Future) have called for rallies where they hope to mobilize thousands of people.

– Recognition of vaccines –

“This is the opportunity now to try to take some of the vague commitments of (the) Paris agreement and to solidify them into solid, rapid commitments to reduce emissions” of greenhouse gases, stressed the British Prime Minister Boris Johnson in an interview broadcast on ITV on Saturday.

“We must be more ambitious” on the climate, also estimated the President of the European Council Charles Michel, while acknowledging that the question was difficult in particular “for certain countries dependent on coal”.

China, and with it many emerging countries, still depends heavily on this fossil fuel, which emits a lot of CO2, in particular to run its power plants in the current context of the energy crisis.

Discussions are complicated by the absence in Rome of Chinese presidents Xi Jinping and Russian presidents Vladimir Putin, who only participate in the G20 by videoconference.

In their first interventions on Saturday, they pleaded for mutual recognition of the anti-Covid vaccines currently available, Chinese and Russian sera in particular not being accepted everywhere in the European Union.

“Not all countries that need it can have access to anti-Covid vaccines,” noted Vladimir Putin, whose statement was broadcast by Russian public television, criticizing “dishonest competition, protectionism” and the fact that some “are not ready for mutual recognition of vaccines and vaccination certificates”.

– Discussions on Iran –

From Beijing, President Xi has also called for “mutual recognition of vaccines,” according to his remarks reported by state television CCTV.

On the sidelines of the G20, which marks the return of face-to-face multilateral meetings since the start of the pandemic, many bilateral and small committee meetings are also being held.

One of the most eagerly awaited on Saturday afternoon gathered US Presidents Joe Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron, as well as German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Boris Johnson, to discuss a resumption of nuclear negotiations with Iran.

A White House official said he expected from this meeting a statement that will send a signal of “unity” from these four countries on the issue, “but also set the stage for what we believe is the way forward” .

Argentine President Alberto Fernandez, for his part, launched a diplomatic offensive and increased bilateral meetings with European leaders before his meeting at the end of the afternoon with the director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), in the midst of negotiations on a renegotiation of the debt of the South American country.

And at a time when the rag is burning between Paris and London on fishing rights in the Channel, Emmanuel Macron will also discuss Sunday morning face-to-face with Boris Johnson. The latter said on Saturday that he “does not rule out” activating for the first time a conflict resolution tool provided for in post-Brexit agreements with the EU.