G20 Summit: World leaders express resolve to limit temperature rise to 1.5C

Leaders at the Group of 20 (G20) meeting in Bali have agreed to pursue efforts to limit the rise in global temperatures to 1.5C, including speeding up efforts to "phase down" the unabated use of coal.

"We resolve to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C," a declaration issued at the end of the meeting said on Wednesday. 

"This will require meaningful and effective actions and commitment by all countries."

"Mindful of our leadership role, we reaffirm our steadfast commitments, in pursuit of the objective of UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) to tackle climate change by strengthening the full and effective implementation of the Paris Agreement and its temperature goal," the declaration said.

World governments agreed in 2015 during a UN summit in France to try to limit the average global temperature increase to 1.5C (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial times, a deal dubbed the Paris Agreement that was seen as a breakthrough in international climate ambition.

"This will require meaningful and effective actions and commitment by all countries," the G20 statement said.

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Russia criticised

The declaration also criticised Russia, saying they "deplore in the strongest terms" Russia's offensive against Ukraine.

The declaration 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."

The declaration said there were "other views and different assessments of the situation and sanctions".

International law must be upheld and the threat of the use of nuclear weapons was inadmissible, the leaders said in the declaration while welcoming the Black Sea grain initiative.

Leaders also said their central banks will continue to calibrate the pace of monetary policy tightening while being mindful of the need to limit "cross-country spillovers.

Leaders also reaffirmed their commitment to avoid excessive exchange-rate volatility while recognising that "many currencies have moved significantly" this year.

"G20 central banks ...are closely monitoring the impact of price pressures on inflation expectations and will continue to appropriately calibrate the pace of monetary policy tightening in a data-dependent and clearly communicated manner," the statement said.

Earlier, an emergency meeting on Poland's missile attack disrupted the second-day schedule of the G20.

On Tuesday two people got killed in a blast in eastern Poland near the Ukraine border. Poland, the NATO member, summoned Russia's ambassador to Warsaw for an explanation but Moscow had denied its hand in the attack.

President Joe Biden said preliminary investigation suggests it may not have been caused by a missile fired from Russia.

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