Calls for concrete solutions to climate crisis as leaders gather at G20 summit, COP27

BALI, Indonesia — As world leaders gather in resort cities of Indonesia and Egypt this week, groups across Asia called on wealthy economies to deliver real solutions to the world’s biggest problems: a rapidly warming planet, and food and energy crises.

Here in Bali, leaders of G20 or the world’s 20 largest economies, meet in an attempt to deliver concrete solutions that can help the world in its economic recovery. The bloc’s biggest meeting is held under the shadow of the climate crisis, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and strained China-United States relations.

Over 9,000 kilometers away from this tropical paradise, in the Red Sea resort city of Sharm El-Sheikh, COP27 entered its final week, with nearly 200 nations racing to strike a deal to slow global warming and scale up finance for communities battered by climate disasters. 

Organizations such as the Asian Peoples’ Movement on Debt and Development said the two global summits must result in the delivery of adequate and accessible climate finance, and the establishment of a loss and damage fund through which countries that got rich from burning fossil fuels would compensate developing countries for the destruction caused by accelerating climate change.

APMDD coordinator Lidy Nacpil said that climate finance should be grants-based, and should “not be another opportunity for rich countries and corporations to profit from poor and vulnerable countries.”

United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres said Monday evening that G20 nations — responsible for 80% global greenhouse gas emissions — should take additional efforts to keep alive a target of limiting global warming at 1.5 degrees Celsius.

“Action — or inaction — by the G20 will determine whether every member of our human family has a chance to live sustainably and peacefully, on a healthy planet,” Guterres said. 

Accountability 

Bukluran ng mga Pilipino chairperson Leody de Guzman called for a wealth tax to cover the cost of climate impacts and support the poor. 

“They should pay for climate debt and be held accountable for the suffering of communities by imposing wealth tax,” he said.

For Freedom from Debt coalition’s Rovik Obanil, the fight for climate justice goes beyond holding wealthy nations and corporations accountable for causing the climate crisis.

“This must include addressing worsening inequalities and widespread poverty because these multiply vulnerabilities,” he said. 

Groups across Asia will hold protest actions on Wednesday to demand leaders attending the COP27 and G20 summits to deliver climate and economic justice. 

Energy transition 

Indonesia, this year’s host and Southeast Asia’s only G20 member state, seeks to frame the summit’s agenda around three main pillars, one of which is sustainable energy transition. 

Indonesia, the Asian Development Bank, and a power firm signed a deal to refinance and prematurely retire a coal-fired power plant to advance the clean energy transition. The Manila-based multilateral lender is hoping the approach can be replicated with other plants in Indonesia and in other countries.

Indonesia is heavily reliant on coal and is the world’s largest exporter of the planet-warming fuel. The Philippines meanwhile imports most of its coal supply from Indonesia. 

Tata Mustasya, head of climate campaign for Greenpeace Southeast Asia, said that energy transition must be just and must happen now as the impacts of climate change are being increasingly felt.

“The energy transition is something inevitable, and countries will eventually shift in that direction, including Indonesia. However, it is essential to underline that action must be taken immediately, considering the significant impacts of the climate crisis on the environment and humanity. The G20 holds such responsibility,” Mustasya said. 

Groups such as the Philippine Movement for Climate Justice and Sanlakas stressed that “false solutions” such as oil and gas as transition fuels should be rejected, and funding and support for fossil fuel projects should be stopped. 

“We are running out of time. While [rich countries] are dilly-dallying and foot dragging, many livelihoods and homes are destroyed in countries like the Philippines. There is no more time for inaction,” Sanlakas secretary general Aaron Pedrosa said. 

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This story was supported by Climate Tracker Asia.