Upcoming G20 Summit: A Step to a Greener Earth?

By George Berbari, CEO of DC PRO Engineering - a leading electro mechanical consultancy firm specialising in District Energy Services and Green Buildings MEP design.

Hangzhou summit represents President Obama’s last chance to enact meaningful environmental legacy

Dubai, UAE, September 3, 2016:  This year’s 11th G20 summit and the first ever to be held in China carries the theme: ‘Toward an Innovative, Invigorated, Interconnected and Inclusive World Economy’. 

To drive and ultimately deliver a global ‘interconnected’ mandate, China has invited a record number of developing countries to next week’s Hangzhou summit (September 4-5). 

Some of the less heralded nations invited to Hangzhou include Chad, chair of the African Union; Laos, chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN); Senegal, chair of the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD); Egypt, Kazakhstan, Singapore and Thailand.

As the President of this year’s summit, China is championing the ‘2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development’ – an initiative conceived to spark international economic growth and combat traditional – and outdated - centralised monetary instruments that are proving inefficient in spurring the sluggish global economy.

With one of the core focuses of the G20 being inclusive finance policy development to catalyse economic stimulus, there is a risk that a drive to rectify stagnant global markets may see environmental concerns take a back seat.

My hope is that any push to drive economic growth in Hangzhou does not come at the expense of the Energy Ministerial Meeting that took place in June. At that meeting, energy ministers agreed on a communiqué  reaffirming their commitment to ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all. This communiqué mirrored the key role of renewable energy in achieving the goals set at the Paris climate conference held in December last year.  Indeed, the June meeting was a milestone in recognising the importance of transforming our world through energy collaboration and tackling better energy access, cleaner future energy, energy efficiency, inefficient fossil fuel subsidies and energy market transparency. 

It would be a shame to take a step back, especially after the historic Paris agreement signed less than nine months ago. That agreement only opened for signature - for a period of one year - on 22 April and will only enter into force after 55 countries that account for at least 55% of global emissions have deposited their instruments of ratification.

As of today only 23 nations have deposited these instruments of ratification. Sadly, these nations account for only 1.08 % of the total global greenhouse gas emissions.

Vitally, international news outlets are speculating that the two biggest CO2 emitters, China at 20 per cent and United States at 18 per cent, are planning to deposit their instruments prior to the G20 Summit.

This is watershed moment for both President Xi Jinping and President Barack Obama. The two presidents will meet on September 4 and it is possible ratification could be confirmed the following day. 

Naturally, there are uncertainties – including ongoing political upheavals over the South China Sea dispute - but my expectation is that President Obama is keen to ratify the treaty and stamp it to cement a lasting environmental legacy prior to leaving office in January 2017. As President of the G20 Summit, it’s thought President Jinping is also keen for the US to ratify the agreement on Chinese soil.

If China and the US ratify the agreement in Hangzhou it would keep the Paris Agreement on track for full ratification before the end of the year and President Obama’s exit from the White House. A global accord on climate change and the environment would have great implications for the world – both today and for future generations.