Excellencies.
It is a pleasure to address this Ministerial meeting of the G20 Environment and Climate Sustainability Working Group. My thanks to Brazil for its leadership of the G20 this year.
This leadership is part of a new era, in which developing and emerging countries in the Global South have risen to the fore. Indonesia, India and Brazil have held consecutive presidencies. And South Africa will take the reins in 2025, a historic moment that follows the African Union’s entry into the G20.
Leadership from developing and emerging countries is hugely important, as equity, justice and social inclusion help pave the way to a healthy environment. And during its presidency, Brazil has placed a strong emphasis on social inclusion for environmental sustainability.
The central role of indigenous peoples and traditional communities was highlighted in work around payments for ecosystem services. There was a focus on protecting vulnerable communities in Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). And environment and climate sustainability were addressed across multiple sectors in over 12 working groups.
This is an important legacy for this cycle.
But we know that the world is in deep trouble. The fires in the Amazon are just the latest warning of the dangers posed by the accelerating triple planetary crisis – the crisis of climate change, the crisis of nature and land loss, and the crisis of pollution and waste.
The G20, which accounts for over 80 per cent of the global economy, has the power to lift us out of this trouble. I see three immediate priorities for G20 nations to use their power and help set the world on the track to the meet the vision of the 2030 Agenda and the Pact for the Future, adopted by world leaders just a few weeks ago.
One, unite action across the Rio Conventions, while not forgetting to integrate the non-Rio conventions, such as the pollution conventions -- Montreal, Basel, Rotterdam, Stockholm, Minamata – as all the Multilateral Environmental Agreements are indivisible in our pull for a sustainable planet.
As we meet today in Rio de Janeiro, let us remember that this city was the birthplace of the climate change, biodiversity and desertification conventions. Over the next few months, these three Rio Conventions will hold gatherings of their Conference of the Parties – and you have already heard from the presidents of each one today.
At the UN Biodiversity Conference (COP16), hosted by Colombia, we need to see progress on turning the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework commitments into action, including through resource mobilization and a strong financial mechanism. We will also need to land the specifics regarding benefit sharing in the implementation of digital sequencing information.
At the UN Climate Conference (COP29), led by Azerbaijan, the focus will be on delivering the new quantified goal on climate finance, on getting greater transparency through the biennial transparency reports and on setting the stage for enhanced NDCs in early 2025.
At UNCCD COP16, led by Saudi Arabia, the focus will be on how to integrate land degradation neutrality into national development plans and restore degraded lands by 2030, while also testing the grounds for a stronger multilateral pathway on droughts.
These are hugely important moments in and of themselves. But we must remember that the triple planetary crisis is one crisis. Just as the Earth’s systems are indivisible, these conventions are indivisible. So, G20 nations must prioritize actions that bring benefits across the multilateral environmental conventions. We are talking about the land restoration agenda, which slows climate change, brings back nature and creates jobs. About phasing down fossil fuels and short-lived climate pollutants, which reduces emission, air pollution and damage to crops. About a global shift away from unsustainable consumption and production, the key driver of the triple planetary crisis, towards circularity. About reducing chlorinated gases, which positively impacts climate change and biodiversity. I could go on and on.
In this regard, I welcome the Rio Trio initiative, launched by the presidencies last week at UNGA, to coordinate efforts through stronger partnerships between governments, multilateral institutions and civil society.
Two, submit strong NDCs in 2025.
The new NDCs are due next year ahead of COP30, which Brazil is hosting. They will be crucial. UNEP’s Emissions Gap Report told us last year that if we arrive in 2030 with the emissions predicted under current NDCs, 1.5°C will be gone and 2°C will shortly follow.
So, we need to almost halve greenhouse emissions by 2030 to have a shot at 1.5°C. The potential is there to deliver these cuts through existing technologies and solutions. The next edition of UNEP’s Emissions Gap Report, which will be released in a few weeks, will elaborate on this potential across many sectors.
But to have even the faintest chance of delivering the needed cuts, the new NDCs from G20 nations must collectively pledge to cut emissions in line with 1.5°C by 2030. And do the same for 2035. And, of course, strong policies and rapid implementation must immediately follow to kick-start a global transformation. As the UN Secretary-General told G20 foreign ministers during the UN General Assembly, this means phasing down fossil fuels and boosting energy efficiency and renewables in line with COP28 outcomes, among many other actions.
There are, of course, differentiated responsibilities within the G20, as there are differentiated emission histories. For example, adding the African Union to the G20 has more than doubled the number of G20 countries, from 44 to 99. However, this only brought an increase in total G20 emissions of just five percentage points, bringing the G20’s load to 82 per cent.
So, the G20 nations most responsible for emissions must shoulder the heaviest burden and support those nations least responsible for climate change to leapfrog to low-carbon development paths.
Three, back a strong deal on plastic pollution.
This November, in Busan, Republic of Korea, the world has a historic opportunity to finalize a deal to end plastic pollution. The negotiations so far have enabled a degree of convergence on several areas. Now, we will need the continued commitment and engagement of all stakeholders and strong political support from G20 nations to land a deal.
This instrument is not about banning essential plastics. We will need plastic in clean transport, the energy transition, construction, healthcare and more. But we must tackle single-use and short-lived plastics. And, through a life-cycle approach, we need to ensure that the plastic we do use stays in the economy, not the environment.
So, we must ensure the treaty has a strong start, so that we can build it further out in the future. It is critical that we ensure language on making Extended Producer Responsibility a national requirement. It is critical that we have strong waste management. It is critical that we understand that by taking out single-use and short-lived plastics, we will obviously see a reduction in the production of new raw polymers for those products.
G20 nations need to champion the landing of an instrument that addresses the life cycle of plastic. An instrument that is ambitious, credible and just. That responds to the needs of people and communities. That protects people and planet from plastic pollution. That the world’s population demands.
Excellencies,
We know that it will not be easy to overcome the triple planetary crisis. But if the G20 shows political will, decisive leadership and a commensurate increase in finance for sustainable solutions, it can be done.
Brazil’s work will leave a strong legacy for the G20. UNEP will of course be here to support you, including through the upcoming South African presidency, to build on this legacy, as you shape a sustainable future, for your own people and those over whom your influence extends.
