NEW DELHI: G20 leaders papered over deep divisions on the war in Ukraine and tackling climate change on Saturday, avoiding direct criticism of Moscow-Ukraine war and any concrete pledge to phase out polluting fossil fuels.
Leaders of the grouping, which brings together Russia as well as some of Ukraine’s most ardent backers, have struggled to agree on much, in particular about the 18-month-old dispute.
But facing a major diplomatic embarrassment, host India had pressed members to agree a common statement at a two-day summit in the capital New Delhi.
The Group of 20 denounced the use of force for territorial gain but refrained from direct criticism of Russia by name.
“There were different views and assessments of the situation,” the leaders’ statement said.
European nations and the United States had pressed for the G20 not to water down its earlier condemnation of a war that has caused food and fuel price spikes worldwide.
With long-time Russian ally India in the G20 chair, Ukraine’s allies appeared to have failed in that bid.
Kyiv’s foreign ministry denounced the statement as “nothing to be proud of”, but a top White House official said Washington was happy with the outcome.
“From our perspective, it does a very good job,” US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told reporters.
He said the G20 statement stood up “for the principle that states cannot use force to seek territorial acquisition or to violate the territorial integrity and sovereignty or political independence of other states.”
On climate, too, the G20 found minimal common ground, despite meeting in what the EU’s climate monitor says is likely to be the hottest year in human history.
With major fossil fuel producers and coal-dependent nations around the table, there was no overarching commitment to phase out the polluting fuels.
Such a measure was deemed “indispensable” by the United Nations just a day earlier to achieve a net-zero goal.
Instead, G20 countries pledged to triple renewable energy sources by 2030 while committing only to a “phasedown” of coal “in line with national circumstances”.
The G20 leading economies account for 85 per cent of global GDP and a similar amount of global climate-warming emissions.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi thanked leaders for their “hard work” and banged a ceremonial gavel to adopt the declaration. — AFP
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