The G20 agrees to set a maximum ceiling of 1.5 degrees for global warming

The G20 leaders started the second day of the summit with a photo at the Trevi Fountain. They hope to close an agreement to reduce emissions, after adopting this Saturday the global minimum tax as an economic measure.

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The G20 has reached a agreement on the maximum ceiling of 1.5 degrees for global warming, which represents a victory over the failed negotiations in July during the meeting of the G20 energy and environment ministers, in the face of opposition from China and India.

The leaders of the G20 in Rome have started the second day of the summit with a group photo at the Trevi Fountain, then move to the Nuvola congress center and continue with the negotiations to reach a firm agreement to put an end to CO2 emissions. For the moment, these have resulted in an agreement on the maximum temperature to be reached.

The climate change It is one of the central themes of this event that will serve as a prelude to COP26 in Glasgow (Scotland). In fact, many of the leaders present in Rome travel this Sunday to the new appointment under the pressure of the last report of the Intergovernmental Group of Experts IPCC of August, which shows, for example, that the current rise of 1.1 degrees in temperature it is already affecting many extreme weather events around the world.

The report also highlights that one of the limits set by the 2015 Paris Agreement for the end of the century cannot be respected, since, inevitably, the temperature would exceed the 1.5 ° C mark in the next 20 years. If nothing were done, at the current rate of emissions the temperature would rise by 4.4 degrees by the end of the century.

None of the world’s major economies, including all of the G20, currently has a climate plan that meets its obligations under the 2015 Paris Agreement, according to the analysis published by the watchdog Climate Action Tracker (CAT). The study looked at the policies of 36 countries, as well as the 27 countries of the European Union, and found that all major economies were out of the way to contain global warming at 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. The G20 countries together account for 80% of global emissions.

According to experts, to face climate change it is necessary to combat it in several simultaneous scenarios that go through the brake of forest deforestation, the greater use of clean energy, but above all the reduction in block of the use of fossil fuels.

This second day has also started with absences; that of the President of the United States, Joe Biden and that of the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen. They are expected to hold a joint conference after the United States and the European Union agree to lift tariffs on steel and aluminum. The agreement includes a volume of European metals that will enter the United States duty-free, while the bloc will eliminate tariffs on products such as whiskey and motorcycles.

The global minimum tax, the first objective achieved

The first day of the G20 leaders’ summit achieved this Saturday, after lengthy negotiations, a first goal achieved; the adoption of a global minimum tax to multinationals to balance the international tax system.

The Italian presidency assured that the objective of this new tax is to guarantee “fair, modern and efficient fiscal regulations, key to promoting investment and growth.”