Global Climate Summit Ends With Binding Emissions Targets for G20 Nations
For the first time, all G20 members agreed to legally binding national emissions reduction schedules.
A week-long global climate summit concluded Friday with a landmark agreement committing all G20 nations to legally binding national emissions reduction schedules — the first time major economies have accepted binding targets under international climate law.
The agreement requires each signatory to submit a national reduction schedule to an independent review panel every three years. Countries that miss their targets face trade measures from compliant nations.
The deal was hailed by climate scientists as the most substantive international climate action in a decade. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change issued a statement saying the agreement would limit warming to approximately 2.1 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels by 2100.
China and India agreed to the framework after securing guarantees that wealthier nations would contribute to a $300 billion annual climate finance fund for developing countries.
Critics, including several environmental groups, said the targets were still insufficient and that the enforcement mechanism lacked sufficient teeth to compel the largest emitters.