G20: 19 Against 1 On Climate Change; Affordable Antimicrobials, Vaccines Planned

The G20 governments against some odds passed a joint communique today, but had to accept differences on climate and in one point also on free trade. The US delegation remained firm in their decision to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement and continue to support conventional energy resources, instead of renewable ones. German Chancellor Angela Merkel in her press conference explained that there was a clear division in the climate chapter of the G20 2017 Declaration.

The main declaration and all 14 annex documents are here.

On trade, Merkel said “what could be done in the G20 was done,” but acknowledged that negotiations were “very hard” and the fight about steel tariffs remained a “hot topic”. In the final communique there are a commitment to “keep markets open,” but pushed by the US delegation, leaders did “recognise the role of legitimate trade defence instruments.” The “Global Forum on Steel Excess Capacity,” facilitated by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), established after the G20 meeting in Hangzhou, “now has to work hard to get results,” Merkel said pointing to a first deadline in August.

No Fight against Terrorism without Action against Climate Change

In the end, 19 of the G20 countries confirmed their commitment to the Paris agreement, describing it as “irreversible”, but had to settle for a special US paragraph that underlines the US position. “I still think this is a failure,” said French President Manuel Macron, “but we cannot offer a Paris agreement a la carte.” The US had insisted on its own position, now “noted” by the 19 in a special paragraph of the final communique that includes an offer of the US to “work closely with other countries to help them access and use fossil fuels more cleanly and efficiently and help deploy renewable and other clean energy sources, given the importance of energy access and security in their nationally determined contributions.”

Macron also announced another conference in December that will make the next steps with regard to funding to deliver on the necessary changes. Many countries that are firm supporters of Paris, like Germany, still lag behind in fulfilling their commitments. The French president underlined that “it is not possible to fight against international terrorism if you do not act decisively against climate change.” The source of terrorism is inequality, which is nurtured by climate change, Macron explained, adding, “everything is connected.”

Professor Mojib Latif, Head of the Research Division: Ocean Circulation and Climate Dynamics at the Helmhotz Center for Ocean Research in Kiel said in an interview with German national broadcasting during the summit that he had “lost hope in the political process. Instead i hope that reality will solve the issues.” As coal, for example, is a more expensive energy source, even US industry would think twice to change back.

Health, Women, Africa

As expected, health while being put high on the agenda by Merkel, was not driven further than during the prior G20 Health Minister Conference in Berlin in May. Two short paragraphs made it into the final declaration. The G20 calls on the UN “to keep global health high on the political agenda” and supports the WHO‘s central coordinating role, “especially for capacity building and response to health emergencies.” The heads of state also affirm the importance of the International Health Regulations (IHR 2005) and make a brief statement on R&D: “We see need to foster R&D preparedness through globally coordinated models as guided by the WHO R&D Blueprint, such as the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI).”

With regard to antimicrobial resistance, the governments promise to “have implementation of our National Action Plans, based on a One-Health approach, well under way by the end of 2018.” Access to “affordable and quality antimicrobials, vaccines and diagnostics, including through efforts to preserve existing therapeutic options” is another promise, plus the G20 makes a “call for a new international R&D Collaboration Hub to maximize the impact of existing and new anti-microbial basic and clinical research initiatives as well as product development.”

”Further practical market incentive options” also shall be discussed together with OECD and WHO, the Summit declaration states.

A number of other results are related to development projects. In an effort to support the economy in developing countries, the Women G20 announced support for women entrepreneurs through funding. Supported and presented, inter alia, by Ivanka Trump, daughter of the US president, who also represented her father during a part of the main plenary meeting of the G20.

With contributions from Canada, the US, Germany, the Netherlands and other countries, the project announced it had 324 Million US dollars to spend by the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative. On the funding for Africa, no concrete figures were announced for the Compact for Africa (explained in the G20 Africa Partnership). Merkel said during the press conference that the most important step of the new program was “we have realised that classical development or investment alone does not help development in Africa.” Merkel earlier referenced that with Africa2063 for the first time there was a developing plan from Africa that should be supported by the EU.

Several annex documents of the Summit deal with corruption, namely the “High Level Principles on the Liability of Legal Persons” (here), the “High Level Principles on Organizing against Corruption” (here), the “High Level Principles on Countering Corruption in Customs (here), and the High Level Principles on Combatting Corruption related to Illegal Trade in Wildlife and Wildlife Products (here)

Digitisation, Trust and IP

On the topic of digitisation, the Summit confirmed the objective set by an April meeting of IT ministers to realise digital connection for all their citizens by 2025. The Summit also reiterated that “trust in digital technologies requires effective consumer protection, intellectual property rights, transparency, and security in the use of ICT” and referenced the “G20 Roadmap for Digitalisation“ as a guidance.

Meanwhile, Hamburg alongside the summit saw many protests organised by NGOs, and experienced violent protests from several hundred radicals who during the night set cars on fire and plundered shops. Merkel welcomed civil society contributions, of which she said, the protest marches were a part, but sharply condemned the violence.