G20 energy meet concludes without joint communique
G20 Energy Transition Ministerial Meeting ended without any joint communique because of differences over the Russia-Ukraine war and the pace of acceleration in renewable energy deployment to achieve climate goals. Common ground was, however, reached on zero and low-carbon hydrogen. A chair summary was issued instead of the communique at the end of the two-day ministerial.
«We were also of the view that any energy transition or climate action has to happen taking into account the circumstances of the countries,» power minister RK Singh said after the meeting. Some members called for efforts toward phasing down unabated fossil fuels. Others said abatement and removal technologies will address such concerns, according to the chair summary, underscoring the differences over the bid to reduce fossil fuel use.
The use of fossil fuel without carbon capture and storage technology is generally classified as 'unabated'. Of the 27 paragraphs proposed in the draft communique and deliberated upon in the last leg of the G20 Energy Transition Working Group meetings, 20 were agreed upon with some changes and released as an outcome document. There was unanimity on facilitating access to low-cost finance for existing as well as new and emerging clean technologies for energy transition.
The need to scale up the deployment of renewable energy at an accelerated pace, address power system flexibility challenges and lower costs was noted but there was no agreement on these issues. There was no consensus on the statement of the initial draft communique that the current rate of renewable energy deployment globally may be insufficient to implement the goals of the Paris Agreement and achieve universal energy access. The draft communique cited a
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