01/09/2022 – The C20 Indonesia Working Group on Climate Justice and Energy Transition (ECE WG) urged G20 leaders to declare a more ambitious commitment to addressing climate change and adopt the principle of climate justice in every aspect of climate mitigation, adaptation, and finance at the G20 Summit in November 2022 .
The ECE C20 Indonesia Working Group lamented the inability of environment or climate ministers from G20 countries to agree on a joint communique, despite ongoing discussions on the climate crisis. The G20 forum comprises developing and developed countries, which together account for 80% of global GDP and 75% of international trade. However, these economic activities are responsible for 75% of global GHG emissions.
The ECE Working Group supports all the agenda items outlined in the chair's summary , including those on reducing the impacts of land degradation and drought; enhancing the protection, conservation, and restoration of land and forest ecosystems in a sustainable manner to mitigate the impacts of climate change and biodiversity loss; efforts to reduce pollution and environmental degradation; waste management; sustainable water resource management; marine debris; marine conservation; and the circular economy—some of the areas agreed upon by the ministers.
However, there is currently no discussion or even mention of the timeframe, leadership, and mobilization of funds to achieve all the points mentioned in
the summary. Of particular concern is that 71% of public climate finance is provided through loans, exacerbating the debt burdens of developing countries that already have high debt burdens in the context of the current multiple crises and, while not primarily responsible for the climate crisis, are carrying the climate debt of the global north . To achieve meaningful outcomes, we urge G20 leaders to advance a measurable plan to address climate change, particularly for those most at risk, by enhancing their capacity for climate mitigation and adaptation, and recognizing and formalizing the role of children and young people, especially girls and adolescents; women; indigenous peoples; older people; and people with disabilities in all climate work, including decision-making.
Furthermore, the lack of discussion between the Environment Deputies Meeting and Climate Sustainability Working Group (EDM-CWSG) and the Energy Transition Working Group (ETWG) and the G20 Indonesia Finance Track is also noteworthy. Addressing climate and environmental issues cannot be separated from the outcomes of energy and economic policies. The energy sector is the largest emitter of greenhouse gases compared to other sectors. Therefore, the ECE Working Group urges G20 leaders to harmonize a just energy transition with efforts to meet the 1.5°C target as set out in the Paris Agreement and commit to sustainable resource governance to achieve a balance between environmental protection and the accelerated development of sustainable energy infrastructure, given that such infrastructure requires a large amount of various minerals and natural resources. We also call on G20 countries to halt investment in the fossil fuel industry, which is currently increasing due to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
According to the 2021 Climate Transparency Report, not a single G20 country has achieved enough ambition to prevent global warming from exceeding 1.5 degrees Celsius. Without strong commitments from the world's major economies, countries and communities less responsible for causing climate change will bear the brunt of its impacts. The latest IPCC report indicates that humanity has less than three years left to reverse global greenhouse gas emissions and warns that extreme weather and natural disasters will become more frequent and intense, impacting vulnerable groups in the global south more severely . This crisis has already caused deaths, droughts, famines, local species extinctions, migration, and billions of dollars in losses.
Indigenous, local, and civil society communities remain under-involved in discussions and planning for climate change and other environmental issues. Development and climate initiatives have treated vulnerable groups as victims, not agents of change who can lead and participate in decision-making processes. Yet, many environmental projects planned without local community involvement have led to maladaptation that exacerbates problems rather than resolves them.
" G20 countries should also be able to agree on a more ambitious commitment to stop the destruction of natural ecosystems, both terrestrial, coastal, and marine ecosystems, and accelerate the recovery of damaged ecosystems in order to prevent the increase in global temperature above 1.5 degrees Celsius. Protecting natural ecosystems, especially remaining natural forests, is a cost-effective climate crisis mitigation effort from the AFOLU sector. To realize climate and environmental justice, energy transition efforts and economic recovery must always involve and respect community rights and be in line with ecosystem protection and restoration ," explained Anggalia Putri, Coordinator of the AFOLU and Rights Sub-Working Group of the C20 Indonesia ECE Working Group, who was invited to the third EDM-CWSG meeting on Monday, August 29 as an observer.
Finally, we urge all world leaders, both G20 members and non-members, to ensure the protection of environmental defenders through legal measures and to stop all forms of violence, threats, intimidation, and criminalization.
For more information, contact us via email at wgecjet@civil-20.org
The various demands of the ECE C20 Indonesia Working Group, summarized in the Executive Summary Policy Pack of the WG ECE C20 Indonesia, can be read in full here .
