G20 Summit: Brazil’s president calls for more action on climate change

Brazil’s president opened the second day of the G20 Summit by calling for more action to slow global warming, saying developed nations must speed up their initiatives to reduce harmful emissions.

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva focused Tuesday’s session on environmental challenges, saying developed nations should consider moving their 2050 emission goals forward to 2040 or 2045.

“The G20 is responsible for 80% of greenhouse effect emissions,” Lula said. “Even if we are not walking the same speed, we can all take one more step.”

During the summit, which was held at Rio de Janeiro’s Modern Art Museum, G20 leaders gathered to discuss changes in the world order from heightened global tensions to changes on the international political stage.

The agenda focused on working to reinforce multilateral cooperation before US President-elect Donald Trump assumes office in January.

EU leaders also took the opportunity to hold bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the summit.

In a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, French President Emmanuel Macron reaffirmed France’s commitment to strengthening relations with China and insisted that the two countries shared the same views on promoting peace in Ukraine.

“The world in which we live, as you just reminded us, is made up of instabilities, tensions and growing wars. And I believe that we truly share a common vision in upholding the United Nations Charter and promoting a peace agenda,” Macron told Jinping.

“We meet again on the 1000 day of the War of Aggression launched by Russia against Ukraine, and I know that you share, as we do, the desire for a lasting peace, respectful of the United Nations Charter, and that you share, as we do, the same concern after Russia’s bellicose and escalating declarations of nuclear doctrine,” he added.

A joint statement signed by representatives of the G20 nations on Monday night called for urgent humanitarian assistance and better protection of civilians caught up in conflicts in the Middle East, plus affirmed the Palestinian right to self-determination.

It also included Brazil’s proposal to tax billionaires’ income by 2%, focused on ways to eradicate world hunger and pledged to work for ‘transformative reform’ of the UN Security Council.