Business, Civil, & Scientific Leaders Call On G20 To Support Sustainable Energy Transition
Leaders from three of the G20’s engagement groups representing the business sector, civil society organizations, and think tanks, have signed a joint statement encouraging the G20 nations and leaders to support a sustainable energy transition.
Leaders from the business sector, (Business20/B20), civil society organizations (Civil20/C20), and think tanks (Think20/T20) signed the joint statement this week on the occasion of the G20 Energy and Climate Sustainability Working Groups on the 22nd and 23rd of March in Berlin. The engagement groups called on the G20 “to step up and adopt three main provisions” that will lead towards a sustainable energy transition:
- The G20 should take the lead in implementing the Paris Agreement
- The G20 should drive towards carbon pricing mechanisms and agree on a time line for phasing-out fossil fuel subsidies
- The G20 should enable financial markets to deliver on sustainable development
“Climate change represents one of the largest risks to sustainable development, inclusiveness, equitable economic growth and financial stability,” the authors of the joint statement wrote. “To curtail climate change, we need fast, fundamental and foremost global action.
“We need to change how we produce and consume energy in all parts of our societies, while ensuring competitiveness, inclusive and sustainable growth, energy access and quality jobs in line with Agenda 2030 and its Sustainable Development Goals.”
The authors of the statement highlight the need for business to continue accelerating innovations and investments in climate-friendly infrastructure if a successful energy transition is to occur.
“To mobilize private-sector investments, we, the Chairs of the Climate & Energy Engagement Groups, ask G20 leaders to provide an unambiguous long-term direction,” they write. “We need to be sure that they will fulfill existing international climate-related commitments, foremost the Paris Agreement. We welcome the fact that the German G20 Presidency is aiming to secure greater interlinking of energy and climate policies.”
The B20 Germany meeting which took place this week sees the gathering of the entire G20 business community in a meeting to support the G20 from a business perspective. Given just how much of the world the G20 represents in terms of both global population and global GDP, it is key that the G20 drives this sustainable transition if the world is to meet the targets set out in the Paris Agreement.
Have a tip for CleanTechnica? Want to advertise? Want to suggest a guest for our CleanTech Talk podcast? Contact us here.
Latest CleanTechnica.TV Video
CleanTechnica uses affiliate links. See our policy here.
