The U.S. Doesn’t Agree With G20 Over Climate Change Being A Risk To Economy


02/25/2020

The G20 diplomats have informed that the U.S. is not on board with their decision to mark climate change as a risk to economy in the former’s recent draft communique.



The G20 diplomats informed that the U.S. is not in favour of bringing up the issues of climate change in the “communique of the world’s financial leaders”. This came following a “joint draft statement” wherein the members of G20 considers of taking climate change as a “risk factor to growth”.
 
Last weekend, the central bank representatives and finance ministers from the twenty biggest economies in the world which forms the G20 met to discuss about the “top global economic challenges”. The meeting took place in Riyadh while its agenda was to focus on the “growth outlook” besides looking into “new rules to tax global digital companies”.
 
The members of G20 think there will be a “modest pick-up in global growth this year and next” although there are downside risks to the same due to “geopolitical and remaining trade tensions and policy uncertainty and macroeconomic risk related to environmental sustainability”. The recent draft doesn’t give much importance to the Covid-19 outbreak as a “growth risk”.
 
According to sources the United States did not agree to see climate change as a “risk to the economy”. In the words of one of the G20 diplomat:
“Usually China blocks as well, but as they are represented at lower level it’s mainly the U.S.”.
 
While yet another sources added:
“Climate is the last sticking point in the communique. There is still no agreement”.
 
 
References:
reuters.com