The Energy Transition ministerial under India’s G20 Presidency concluded with no joint communique. In addition to other significant tracks such as finance and agriculture, now energy transition has also failed to find a clear consensus on all issues raised by the G20 nations.
One of the major sticking points was the language around the Russia-Ukraine war. This paper reported Russia wanted the G20 communique to mention a paragraph on the destruction of its gas pipelines that have jeopardised its energy security.
Union Minister for Power and Renewable Energy R K Singh, however, said it was one of the more successful conferences in G20. “We had complete agreement on 22 out of 29 paragraphs, 7 paragraphs constitute the Chair summary,” he said.
A chair summary as the name suggests summarises the suggestions of all member nations. It is issued when a consensus is not achieved. An outcome document summarises the various positions which were noted by the G20 and the member nations will work further in the direction.
The Outcome Document issued at the end of the deliberations reiterated the positions of the countries stated in the UN Security Council and the UN General Assembly. The document did not add any further statement, leaving the security-related matter out of the purview of the meeting, it said.
“Most members strongly condemned the war in Ukraine and stressed it is causing immense human suffering and exacerbating existing fragilities in the global economy – constraining growth, increasing inflation, disrupting supply chains, heightening energy and food insecurity, and elevating financial stability risks. There were other views and different assessments of the situation and sanctions. Recognizing that the G20 is not the forum to resolve security issues, we acknowledge that security issues can have significant consequences for the global economy,” said the outcome document.
As was demanded by China and Saudi Arabia, the outcome document steered clear of any mention of phasing out of fossil fuel. It rather stated – “suggests the importance of phasing down unabated fossil fuels and that countries carry differing views on the approach to manage emissions from the fossil fuel sector.”
With regards to the earlier expectation of targetting triple renewable energy deployment by G20 nations collectively, the document has diluted it further, giving room to even fossil fuel technologies in the energy transition pathway.
The document stated energy transition efforts require safe, stable, diverse and reliable supplies of various existing, new and emerging clean and renewable energy options, aiding towards low emissions development. It however added, “In this respect, the significance of rapidly deploying various clean energy sources, including renewable energy, in achieving global net zero/carbon neutrality by or around mid-century in line with different national circumstances, along with adequate support to developing countries, was emphasized.”
On the question of varied outlooks with regard to fossil fuels and energy transition technologies, Singh said, “We agreed that the pace of energy transitions needs to be increased. We are also of the view that any energy transition or climate change has to happen taking into account the national circumstances of each country. We emphasized the need for sharing of technology, and for low-cost financing especially for developing countries so that no one is left behind.”