The G20 climate talks at Bali ended without a communiqué indicating any progress. The talks had assumed special significance after extreme weather events̶— fires, floods and heat waves— pummeled several parts of the world while Pakistan was lashed by climate-induced torrential rains and floods, that have so far killed over 1000 and affected over 30 million, with 6.4 million surround by water in urgent need of shelter, food, water and medical help.
The G20 comprises developed countries, some of whom are responsible for the massive emission of greenhouse gases from the burning of fossil fuels during the Industrial Revolution and after. They need therefore to bear a greater responsibility for combating climate change. As scientists raised their voice against the catastrophic impact of global warming, the powerful carbon lobby in these countries denied there was a continuing rise in global temperature. Former US President Donald Trump, who shared that retrogressive thinking, called the concept of global warming a conspiracy to make US manufacturing uncompetitive. The Kyoto Protocol (1997) committed state parties to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and called upon the developed countries to assume a greater responsibility.
The G20 meeting got mired in Russia-bashing, a subject that is nearer the heart of the USA and its allies, forgetting the climate issue, the main item on its agenda and the human suffering in Pakistan. Indonesia’s Environment Minister had started the meeting by urging countries to cut emissions and prevent the planet from being pushed to a point “where no future will be sustainable.” That the G20 ignored the elephant in the room goes to its discredit. The G20 leaders are highly mistaken if they think that the suffering undergone by millions caused by the greed of the developed world’s industrial giants can be mitigated by peanuts in aid. What is needed immediately is to rescue and shelter the huge chunk of population stranded over hundreds of square kilometres in all four provinces of Pakistan. Unless there is an agreement at the earliest to slow down the rate and limit the amount of global warming by reducing human emissions of heat-trapping gases, extreme weather events of the type witnessed in Pakistan will increase in severity and frequency as the globe edges closer to the warming threshold of 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.
