G20 china_web

Climate change and green finance
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Much more must be done to achieve
the emissions reductions required
G20 meetings should take stock
and make public promises
ERIC KAYNE/INVISION FOR NRG/PA IMAGES
The accomplishments and
limitations of the 2015 Paris Agreement on
climate change have been widely debated.
The next few years will reveal how well the
critical missing transparency, accountability
and finance can be addressed.
Despite the significant and broadly
shared ambitions contained in the
agreement and its associated national
commitments, even in the most optimistic
scenario of all countries meeting their
Paris pledges, much more must be done to
achieve the emissions reductions required
to meet the stated target of keeping
additional global warming at levels around
2 degrees Celsius. More cuts before and
after 2030 are required. Which national,
intergovernmental and transnational forums
are well suited to continue discussions and
actions on raising ambitions? The G20 is
certainly one.
The world’s largest economies are
mostly the world’s largest emitters. The G20
countries – plus the other members of the
European Union, which also participates
in G20 summits – constituted almost 75 per
cent of global carbon emissions in 2015.
Burning coal also contributes a mighty share
of other emissions, such as sulphur dioxide,
nitrogen oxides and particulates. There is
no better place to put coal on the table, at
the centre of the global agenda, than a G20
meeting in China.
Several G20 countries are significant
producers of fossil fuels, particularly
coal (see table). All have an interest and
an obligation to incentivise increased
investments in many mitigation strategies
and technologies, to further redesign
industrial activity and to retrain workers
The carbon capturing WA Parish power plant in Fort Bend County, Texas, USA.
G20 member
Overview of share of coal
in G20 economies
Coal
production
(Mtoe,
2015)
Coal
exports
(million
tonnes,
2013)
Primary
energy
consumption:
coal (Mtoe,
2015)
Coal
share of
electricity
generation
(2013)
Argentina – – 1.4 2.4%
Australia 275.0 336.1 46.6 64.7%
Brazil 3.4 – 17.4 3.8%
Canada 35.8 39.1 19.8 10.0%
China 1,827.0 5.6 1,920.4 75.4%
France – – 8.7 4.4%
Germany 42.9 – 78.3 46.8%
India 283.9 – 407.2 72.8%
Indonesia 241.1 410.9 80.3 51.2%
Italy – – 12.4 16.8%
Japan 0.6 – 119.4 32.4%
Korea 0.8 – 84.5 41.4%
Mexico 7.0 – 12.8 10.8%
Russia 176.6 140.8 88.7 15.2%
Saudi Arabia – – 0.1 0.0%
South Africa 142.9 74.6 85.0 93.7%
Turkey 16.4 – 34.4 26.6%
United Kingdom 5.3 – 23.4 37%
United States 455.2 106.7 396.3 39.9%
European Union 145.3 – 262.4 27.5%
Notes: Uses base years for which data for all G20 members are available.
Mtoe = millions tonnes of oil equivalent.
Sources: World Bank, BP Energy Outlook, Eurostat, and Organisation
for Economic Co-operation and Development.
192 G20 China: The Hangzhou Summit • September 2016 G7G20.com