G20 meet leaves out language on fossil fuel phase-out

THE GZO Leaders, Summit in Rio de Janeiro concluded with a declaration that reaffirmed commitments to multilateralism, sustainable development, and climate finance reform.

- S V KRISHNA CHAITANYA EXPRESS IN BAKU

Yet it conspicuously avoided language fossil fuels phase-out, a critical element in the UAE COP28 global stock-take outcome document and last year's GZO commitments. Leaders did endorse ambitious climate finance initiatives, including scaling up finance from "from billions to trillions," and investments in clean energy transitions, but failed to provide a roadmap for phasing out fossil fuels. Opposition from fossil fuel exporters such as Saudi Arabia allegedly played a significant role in watering down the language. In Baku, a day after the COP29 presidency sought some sort of strong positive signals from GZO to release the deadlock on climate finance, the declaration, as many e