The leaders of the world’s top economies have issued a rebuke to US President Donald Trump, signing a joint statement at the G20 summit strengthening their commitment to the Paris climate agreement and declaring their support for open trade.Â
G20 members agreed to a statement reaffirming each leader’s commitment to tackle climate change. (Reuters: Yves Herman)
As he opened the summit on Saturday, South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa revealed the 19 countries participating in the forum had agreed by “overwhelming consensus” to endorse “a worthy G20 leaders’ document”.
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Mr Trump refused to attend the summit — the only G20 member to boycott — and urged world leaders not to sign the traditional joint declaration at its conclusion.
Instead, the leaders, including Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, united behind the 30-page communique.Â
The document makes multiple references to climate change — which Mr Trump has described as a “hoax” — net zero and the Paris Agreement, from which the US is withdrawing.
Overwhelming support for climate change
Mr Albanese told reporters at a press conference in Johannesburg “it’s a good thing” the joint statement was adopted.
“It’s a very positive sign that the world wants to get on with cooperating and it’s a very positive statement going forward,” he said.
A source close to the negotiations expressed relief that the declaration “finally” included a shared commitment to open trade, at a time when Mr Trump was seeking to re-write the global rules in his favour.
Donald Trump refused to attend the G20 summit in Johannesburg, South Africa. (AP: Evan Vucci)
Asked whether the statement was a repudiation of the policies Mr Trump was pursuing, Mr Albanese said it simply reflected commitments leaders had already made.
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“It’s about what the world has committed to: the Paris agreement and to action on climate change,” he said.
“There is overwhelming support for action on climate change.”
Domestically, the inclusion of the words “net zero” in the statement puts the Coalition at odds with the world’s 19 biggest economies and raises questions about whether a Coalition government could have supported it.
Costs of climate action laid bare
The statement “reaffirmed” each leaders’ commitment “to tackle climate change by strengthening the full and effective implementation of the Paris Agreement”.
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It also highlighted the stark challenges, and costs, countries were facing in meeting their emissions reduction targets, also known as “nationally determined contributions”.
“We highlight that the needs of developing countries to implement their nationally determined contributions are estimated at $US5.8-5.9 trillion for the pre-2030 period,” the statement reads.
Fossil fuel phase-out
As Mr Albanese was preparing to sign the G20 Leaders’ Declaration, his Energy Minister Chris Bowen was endorsing a separate climate agreement at the COP30 conference in Brazil.
The “Belém Declaration on the Transition Away from Fossil Fuels” contains “the strongest language on phasing out fossil fuels that Australia has ever supported”, according to Michael Poland from the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative.
Cyril Ramaphosa welcomed Anthony Albanese at the G20 summit. (ABC: Luke Stephenson)
“We support the call to advance a road map for the transition away from fossil fuels to scale-up collective action and implementation,” the Belem Declaration reads.
“Fossil fuels are the main drivers of global greenhouse gas emissions and that the projected COâ‚‚ emissions from continued fossil fuel production, licensing, and subsidies are incompatible with limiting the temperature rise to 1.5°C.”
The G20 summit is being held at the Nasrec Expo centre, in Johannesburg, South Africa. (Reuters: Esa Alexander)
A spokesperson for Mr Bowen said Australia was “instrumental in delivering the landmark agreement by all countries at COP28 to transition away from fossil fuels” and supported the Belém declaration “including its call for a road map to give effect to that commitment”.
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Coal and gas are two of Australia’s biggest and most lucrative exports and domestically, the Albanese government acknowledges gas will be required in Australia’s energy mix “through to 2050 and beyond”.
Asked whether that was compatible with the Belém statement, Mr Albanese answered “yes”.
“[Gas] is needed, it’s part of the transition which is occurring. What you need to back up renewables is firming capacity,” he said.
“Our position is the same today as it was yesterday.”
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The prime minister made it clear he would not be altering any existing policies to align with the ambition stated in the declaration.
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On the sidelines of the G20 summit, Mr Albanese held talks with Germany’s chancellor and European Union leaders to progress talks on a free trade deal, expressing his desire to see the agreement settled in the first quarter of 2026.
He also met Türkiye’s President Recep Tayyip ErdoÄŸan, who invited him to attend next year’s Anzac Day commemoration in Gallipoli.
Australia last week handed the hosting rights for next year’s COP31 climate conference to Türkiye — resolving a years-long impasse — with Mr Bowen to take on the summit’s presidency.
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Amid concerns that global forums like the G20, are under pressure, Mr Ramaphosa told leaders it was their responsibility to continue advocating for the power of multilateralism.
“Leaders have a responsibility not to allow the integrity of the G20 to be weakened, in fact it has been strengthened,” he said.
“Multilateralism can and does deliver.”