G20: Theresa May urges countries to raise climate ambitions

(The Guardian, 29 Jun 2019) Prime minister calls on others to embrace UK’s net zero emissions target to tackle crisis.

Theresa May has urged countries to be more ambitious in tackling the climate crisis after Donald Trump reiterated his determination to ditch the Paris accord.

The prime minister led a session on the environment at the G20 summit in Osaka, which will be one of her final appearances on the world stage.

In the G20 communique, which was agreed after many hours of wrangling among the “sherpas”, who represent the group’s member states, 19 of the 20 reiterated their commitment to the Paris accord.

The final wording echoed a statement from the last G20 summit, in Buenos Aires, but government sources suggested some countries, including the US, India and China, had tried to water it down.

The US president had sought to excise the reference to the Paris agreement from the communique altogether, with the help of several other countries, reportedly including Brazil and Turkey.

May said she was pleased there was a communique at all.

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The Guardian, 29 Jun 2019: G20: Theresa May urges countries to raise climate ambitions