After much wrangling, the G20 yesterday agreed to disagree on fighting climate change, with the US dissenting from a commitment to carry out the 2015 Paris Agreement.
In a communique at the end of a two-day summit in Osaka, the grouping said that “signatories to the Paris Agreement” reaffirmed their commitment to its full implementation, referring to the 19 members aside from the US.
The US withdrew from the Paris pact because it “disadvantages American workers and taxpayers,” the grouping added in a subsequent section, adopting a two-part approach used at last year’s summit in Buenos Aires.
Photo: Bloomberg
The division reflects tussles over global warming that have repeatedly stymied international forums since US President Donald Trump pulled the US out of the accord.
Even before the summit started, the differences over climate change became apparent when French President Emmanuel Macron said that France would not accept a final text that omitted the Paris pact.
G20 officials said that the negotiations to secure acceptable language were contentious.
The first chunk of text reflecting the majority view said that members had “common, but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities” in implementing the pact.
The section on the US stance said that the US has a “balanced approach to energy and environment” to deliver “affordable, reliable and secure energy to all its citizens.”
The US approach uses “all energy sources and technologies, including clean and advanced fossil fuels and technologies, renewables and civil nuclear power, while also reducing emissions and promoting economic growth,” it added.
The G20 did manage to agree on tackling plastic trash in the ocean. In the statement the grouping said it adopted an “Osaka Blue Ocean Vision” that aims to stamp out additional pollution by marine plastic litter by 2050.
There were no details of how the goal would be met, except that members would adopt “a comprehensive life-cycle approach” by improving waste management and finding innovative solutions, while recognizing the importance of plastics for society.
As for cybersecurity, the G20 said it was committed to doing more to prevent the use of the Internet to fund and facilitate terrorism and extremism.
While the Internet must be open, free and secure, it also cannot serve as a “safe haven for terrorists,” the leaders said in a separate statement.
They also agreed that such efforts must respect human rights and “fundamental freedoms such as freedom of expression and access to information.”
Meanwhile, Trump said that he would like to see North Korean leader Kim Jong-un this weekend at the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), while North Korea said a meeting would be “meaningful” if it happened.
Trump was due to arrive in South Korea later yesterday and is scheduled to return to Washington today.
Trump made the offer in a comment on Twitter about his trip to South Korea.
“While there, if Chairman Kim of North Korea sees this, I would meet him at the Border/DMZ just to shake his hand and say Hello(?)!” he said.
“We see it as a very interesting suggestion, but we have not received an official proposal in this regard,” North Korean Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Choe Son-hui said in a statement.
Additional reporting by AFP
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique