The G20 meeting in Rome on Sunday committed itself to achieving the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius and pledged action on the use of coal, but fell short on a target of zero emissions, according to a final draft communique.
Experts say meeting the 1.5-degree target means slashing global emissions nearly to half by 2030 and to "net-zero" by 2050 -- and there is no firm date in the G20 communique, which speaks only of reaching the goal of net zero "by or around mid-century".
So, the final statement issued by the leaders made no mention of 2050 as the deadline to achieve net-zero carbon emissions. The leaders, however, did agree to end funding for new unabated coal plants abroad -- those whose emissions have not gone through any filtering process -- by the end of 2021.
China -- by far the world's biggest carbon polluter -- plans to make its economy carbon neutral before 2060 but has resisted pressure to offer nearer-term goals. India, meanwhile, argued that if net-zero by 2050 is the global goal, then rich countries should be carbon neutral ten years earlier to allow poorer, emerging nations a larger carbon allowance and more time to develop.
Nonetheless, the pledges by the Group of 20 major economies, who emit nearly 80 percent of carbon emissions, are viewed as crucial to the success of make-or-break UN climate talks taking place in Glasgow over the next fortnight.
Environmental campaign group Greenpeace slammed the final statement as "weak, lacking both ambition and vision", saying G20 leaders "failed to meet the moment".
"If the G20 was a dress rehearsal for COP26, then world leaders fluffed their lines," said Executive Director Jennifer Morgan.
Friederike Roder, senior director at anti-poverty group Global Citizen, told AFP the summit had produced "half-measures rather than concrete actions".
President Xi Jinping of China was absent from the meeting, as was Russia's Vladimir Putin, although they were participating via videolink.
