The G20 Summit has kicked off in Rome with climate change and the relaunch of the global economy on top of agenda.
Leaders of the world’s most advanced nations are gathering on Saturday in-person for the first time since the pandemic.
The two-day talks in Rome makes headway on tackling global warming, ahead of the key COP26 summit kicking off in Glasgow Monday.
The stakes are high, with United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres warning G20 leaders on Friday to show “more ambition and more action” and overcome mistrust in order to advance climate goals.
“We are still on time to put things on track, and I think the G20 meeting is the opportunity to do that,” Guterres said.
Security was tight in Rome as US President Joe Biden arrived in the Italian capital anxious to turn a page from the tumultuous Trump years and show that American leadership on the world stage is restored.
Yet the Democrat faces a credibility test as his own signature climate policy – part of a sweeping economic package – is held up amid infighting within his party in Congress.
Absent from the G20 will be Russia’s Vladimir Putin and China’s Xi Jinping, who plan to attend by video link.
Although no new pledges are expected on Covid-19 vaccines at the G20, a press release from a Friday meeting of G20 finance and health ministers stated that members would “take steps to help boost the supply of vaccines and essential medical products and inputs in developing countries and remove relevant supply and financing constraints.”
