Editor's Pick: The G20's struggle to toughen climate goals

The leaders of the world's 20 biggest economies ended the summit in Rome by pushing for greater vaccine equality to fight the pandemic, committing to strengthening their efforts to reverse biodiversity loss by 2030, and recommitting $100 billion a year to fight climate change. They promised to help boost the supply of vaccines to achieve the WHO's goal of vaccinating 70% of the global population against COVID-19 by mid-2022. But while they committed to ending international financing for all new coal plants by the end of this year, they struggled to throw their weight behind new measures required to fight climate change, including making domestic commitments on ending coal generation. The final G20 communique only spoke of the "key relevance of achieving global net zero" on carbon emissions "by or around mid-century". In 2015, in Paris, more than 190 countries had committed to limiting global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. Scientists say achieving 'net zero' by 2050 is the way to meet this goal. Net zero refers to an overall balance between greenhouse gas emissions produced and greenhouse gas emissions taken out of the atmosphere. To avoid a climate catastrophe, new emissions must be as low as possible. This means that fossil fuels such as coal, oil and gas need to be rapidly phased out and countries need to quickly move towards renewable energy. While a handful of countries such as the U.K. and France recently set net zero targets, others have not. India has consistently argued that net zero is not the solution to fighting climate change and that the focus should instead be on rich countries who need to acknowledge their "historic responsibility" while ensuring the interests of developing nations. Although India is the third-highest emitter of greenhouse gases, it has historically contributed to only 4% of total emissions since the 1850s. It is in this context that Prime Minister Narendra Modi yet again pushed for "safeguarding the interests of the developing world" at the G20 summit. To drive this point home, India has also officially endorsed a website, made by Indian climate experts, that lists the historical carbon dioxide emissions of developed countries to highlight the disparities between the developed and developing world. The database emphasises that the developed world will have to commit to steeper targets than the developing world towards curbing emissions. The G20 commitments have set the stage for tough negotiations at the Glasgow climate conference where all the leaders are headed and this is why this story is the top pick of the day. The Hindu's Editorials Underestimated utility: On rural jobs scheme fund crunch The big push: On Joe Biden’s social security and climate change plan Was this newsletter forwarded to you? Head over to our newsletter subscription page to sign up for Editor's Pick and more. Click here Try out The Hindu's daily news quiz Which Chief Minister said, "Modiji is going to be more powerful because of the Congress"? a. Arvind Kejriwal b. Pinarayi Vijayan c. Uddhav Thackeray d. Mamata Banerjee To find the answer and play the full quiz, visit: To find out the answer and play the full quiz, click here. [logo] Editor's Pick 01 NOVEMBER 2021 [The Hindu logo] In the Editor's Pick newsletter, The Hindu explains why a story was important enough to be carried on the front page of today's edition of our newspaper. [Arrow]( [Open in browser]( [Mail icon]( [More newsletters]( The G20's struggle to toughen climate goals [The G20's struggle to toughen climate goals] The leaders of the world's 20 biggest economies ended the summit in Rome by pushing for greater vaccine equality to fight the pandemic, committing to strengthening their efforts to reverse biodiversity loss by 2030, and recommitting $100 billion a year to fight climate change. They promised to help boost the supply of vaccines to achieve the WHO's goal of vaccinating 70% of the global population against COVID-19 by mid-2022. But while they committed to ending international financing for all new coal plants by the end of this year, [they struggled to throw their weight behind new measures required to fight climate change]( including making domestic commitments on ending coal generation. The final G20 communique only spoke of the "key relevance of achieving global net zero" on carbon emissions "by or around mid-century". In 2015, in Paris, more than 190 countries had committed to limiting global warming to 1.5°C  above pre-industrial levels. Scientists say achieving 'net zero' by 2050 is the way to meet this goal. Net zero refers to an overall balance between greenhouse gas emissions produced and greenhouse gas emissions taken out of the atmosphere. To avoid a climate catastrophe, new emissions must be as low as possible. This means that fossil fuels such as coal, oil and gas need to be rapidly phased out and countries need to quickly move towards renewable energy. While a handful of countries such as the U.K. and France recently set net zero targets, others have not. India has consistently argued that net zero is not the solution to fighting climate change and that the focus should instead be on rich countries who need to acknowledge their "historic responsibility" while ensuring the interests of developing nations. Although India is the third-highest emitter of greenhouse gases, it has historically contributed to only 4% of total emissions since the 1850s. It is in this context that Prime Minister Narendra Modi yet again pushed for "safeguarding the interests of the developing world" at the G20 summit. To drive this point home, India has also officially endorsed a website, made by Indian climate experts, that[lists the historical carbon dioxide emissions of developed countries]( highlight the disparities between the developed and developing world. The database emphasises that the developed world will have to commit to steeper targets than the developing world towards curbing emissions. The G20 commitments have set the stage for tough negotiations at the Glasgow climate conference where all the leaders are headed and this is why this story is the top pick of the day. The Hindu's Editorials [Arrow][Underestimated utility: On rural jobs scheme fund crunch]( [Arrow][The big push: On Joe Biden’s social security and climate change plan]( [underlineimg] Was this newsletter forwarded to you? Head over to our newsletter subscription page to sign up for Editor's Pick and more. [Click here]( Try out The Hindu's daily news quiz Which Chief Minister said, "Modiji is going to be more powerful because of the Congress"? a. Arvind Kejriwal b. Pinarayi Vijayan c. Uddhav Thackeray d. Mamata Banerjee To find the answer and play the full quiz, visit: ‚ To find out the answer and play the full quiz, [click here](. Today's Best Reads [[Tensions rise over caste split of MGNREGA wages] Tensions rise over caste split of MGNREGA wages]( [[The Court’s order on Pegasus still falls short] The Court’s order on Pegasus still falls short]( [[Getting nutrition back on the school high table] Getting nutrition back on the school high table]( [[G20 ends without time-bound promise on climate change] G20 ends without time-bound promise on climate change]( Copyright @ 2021, THG PUBLISHING PVT LTD. If you are facing any trouble in viewing this newsletter, please [try here]( If you do not wish to receive such emails [go here](