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Minister for Energy, New and Renewable Energy RK Singh launched the Green Hydrogen Innovation Center (GHIC) at the Energy Transitions Ministerial Meeting, under India’s G20 Presidency, in Goa. (Twitter)
In light of the outcome of the meeting, experts say geopolitics played a role in the G20 energy ministers’ meeting which marked divisions despite India’s progressive approach. The closing statement has been called “a watered-down affirmation of the ‘business as usual’ scenario.”
Despite the staggering increase in climate-related disasters, the latest meeting of the G20 Energy Transition Working Group failed to issue a joint call for a relentless phase-out of fossil fuels.
The crucial meeting in Goa concluded after intense negotiations that saw the G20 countries engage in heated debate over language on global security and the energy transition.
However, the meeting failed to issue a joint statement, after which India’s G20 Presidency issued a final outcome document.
Fossil fuel degradation
Experts studying the outcome say the brief document failed to include the language of relentlessly phasing out fossil fuels, instead avoiding vague language. While some G20 members emphasized the importance of efforts toward a relentless phase-out of fossil fuels in line with varying national circumstances, others believe that mitigation and removal technologies will address such concerns.
“It is disappointing that the issue of fossil fuel subsidies remains off the agenda and that there is no call for a phase-down of fossil fuels while extreme weather events multiply around the world. G-20 countries urgently need to shore up their commitment to eliminate inefficient fossil fuel subsidies exceeding $1 trillion globally in 2022,” said Siddharth Goel, Senior Policy Adviser at the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD).
Dr Tan See Ling, Minister of Manpower and Second Minister for Trade and Industry of Singapore met His Excellency Shri Raj Kumar Singh, Minister of Energy, New and Renewable Energy on the sidelines of the Ministerial Meeting on Energy Transitions in Goa today.#G20India #G20Summit #That’s it pic.twitter.com/UgtvDWClkL– RK Singh (OfficeOfRKSingh) July 22, 2023
Three retrofitting projects by 2030
Experts highlight that the briefing did not consider the urgent need to triple global renewable installations by 2030 to keep the 1.5°C target alive. The statement has been significantly watered down from initial deliberation with the final version broadly calling for “tripling the capacity of clean technology.”
“The result is no closer to a net-zero world by 2050,” said Ben Bakewell, CEO of the World Wind Energy Council. “Without advocating for more robust policies and targets that can rapidly increase the penetration of wind, solar and other renewables, the call for efforts for triple-zero, low-emissions technologies rings hollow.” “The final statement is a watered-down affirmation of business as usual.”
According to Tarun Gopalakrishnan, Pre-Doctoral Fellow, Climate Policy Lab, Center for International Environmental Policy, the struggle over energy pathways appeared to be a continuation of the COP27 disagreement about phasing out “all fossil fuels.”
India supported the call because it wanted to treat oil and gas similar to coal, which the world agreed to phase out, but not “phase out” at COP26 in Glasgow. “It was the best diplomatic solution, but not the best climate policy solution,” he said.
The need for urgent climate action
The meeting discussed a range of issues including accelerating energy efficiency and renewable energy, phasing out fossil fuels, and increasing financing for the energy transition. “Some of the issues were discussed for the first time at the G20,” commented Madura Joshi, Senior Associate, E3G. But the final text illustrates the divisions between the states. Now the pressure is on the G20 leaders to set an ambitious agenda in September, which will be critical to setting the tone and success of COP28.”
The meeting also stressed the importance of climate finance and urged developed countries to fulfill their commitments to achieve the goal of jointly mobilizing $100 billion annually by 2020 and through 2025 in the context of targeted mitigation actions.
Experts are also concerned that the language used in the final result endorses low-emission, zero-emission hydrogen, which includes hydrogen produced from gaseous coal as long as it is supplemented using carbon capture and storage (CCUS). In a way, it’s promoting ‘low emissions’ technologies for hydrogen production, which would put you at risk of using fossil-based sources to produce it.
Highlighting that contentious negotiations on the energy transition to achieve the Paris targets have become increasingly fraught with national interests, Aarti Khosla, Director of Climate Trends, said, “The text of the resolution shows how some countries with large interests in fossil fuels have pushed to maximize wrong solutions even while pursuing net-zero targets. India has been an honest and fair broker that listens to all competing interests, and the final document is a reflection of the need to meet a range of geopolitical interests in areas that affect all countries and the growth of Ha and their development – energy transition pathways, critical minerals for such minerals, and the rapid deployment of clean renewable energy sources.”
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