Criticism of the lack of concrete promises in the final declaration of the G20, Rutte positive

“Drops in a rapidly warming ocean,” said British Prime Minister Johnson, describing G20 commitments. According to environmental organizations and activists, the promises made do not help either.

Several world leaders say progress has been made. French President Macron and Italian Prime Minister Draghi call it a success. “The commitments of the G20 leaders are substantial,” said Draghi. “It’s easy to imagine difficult things, but very difficult to actually do them,” he told reporters after the summit.

Rutte: it’s sharper inside

German Chancellor Merkel called the “Rome” result a positive signal for COP26, the Glasgow summit. Outgoing Prime Minister Rutte is also among the optimists. “For the first time in years at the G20, we have really come to conclusions: in fact, it is a reaffirmation of the Paris summit in 2015, but then to bring it down even more brutally. Countries are working towards this 1.5 degree. It’s sharper in there. . “

Rutte is also convinced that the G20 countries will eventually say goodbye to fossil fuels. “What he’s also saying is that we have to get rid of reinvesting in coal as soon as possible. It’s a really serious improvement.”

Insufficient

In addition, recent studies have shown that the climate plans of many countries largely insufficient to achieve the objectives set in Paris. Also based on the latest plans from some 120 countries, Earth is heading for a 2.7-degree temperature rise this century, the United Nations Environment Agency concluded this week. Such a scenario has dire consequences, according to the agency.

The G20 summit was mainly about climate change, but decisions were made in other areas as well. This is how world leaders officially agreed to a tax of at least 15 percent for multinationals.

Rutte: tax on the profits of large multinationals

“We are strongly in favor of this happening in an international context,” said Rutte. “You can also see it in President Joe Biden, who describes it profusely as a G20 success. It shows how important it is.”

The tax ruling has also been criticized. According to organizations such as Oxfam Novib and Tax Justice Network, the plan does not come close to initial ambitions. In addition, large companies can still avoid paying significantly more taxes in other ways, according to interest groups.