G20 leaders criticised for being pale green

‘To build an inclusive, green and sustainable recovery’ does feature as the sixth of six core pledges made by the G20 leaders, but green campaigners say environmental issues have been sidelined in the main statement. Certainly, the green agenda features in just two of the 29 paragraphs of the communique (the 27th and 28th).

These state: “We agreed to make the best possible use of investment funded by fiscal stimulus programmes towards the goal of building a resilient, sustainable, and green recovery. We will make the transition towards clean, innovative, resource efficient, low carbon technologies and infrastructure ... We will identify and work together on further measures to build sustainable economies.

“We reaffirm our commitment to address the threat of irreversible climate change, based on the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities, and to reach agreement at the UN Climate Change conference in Copenhagen in December 2009.”

Environmental campaigner George Monbiot described these commitments as “brief, vague and uncosted,” contrasting them with the preceding paragraphs, setting out the G20s strategy’s for dealing with the financial and economic crisis, which he said were “detailed, innovative, fully costed and of vast scale and ambition.”

Andy Atkins, executive director of Friends of the Earth, was similarly scathing: "Once again world leaders have short-changed people and the planet,” he said. “The economic system and the global environment are on a devastating collision course – but despite pledging to build an inclusive, green and sustainable recovery little has been done to change direction.”

David Norman, director of campaigns at WWF, described the communique as “a huge missed opportunity.” He said: “It should be very clear by now that the climate change crisis and the financial crisis are inextricably linked, and that trying to solve the latter on its own means that we, and the planet, will pay more later.”

The Government’s view is that this argument has already been won. Ed Milliband, Energy and Climate Change Secretary, said the statement by the G20 leaders established “ the central role of climate change in economic policy even in the midst of this financial and economic crisis.”

And while he made no claims for any detailed commitments having been drawn up, he suggested the communique from the G20 leaders “provides an excellent platform for discussions” at the Major Economies Forum at the end of this month. The forum – initiated by President Obama – will bring together representatives of the 16 major economies and the UN secretary general and is designed to help broker a UN agreement on global warming.

Milliband also particularly welcomed the fact that the G20 had committed to achieving a deal at Copenhagen, suggesting that this was the first time all the major countries had collectively done so.

While a lot less sanguine about the G20’s achievements, Norman also expressed the hope that more would be achieved at future meetings between world leaders. "In the coming months there will be further opportunities, for example at the G8, for leaders to link the financial and trade stimulus to the creation of a green economy,” he suggested. But he warned: “the world cannot afford for these to be missed too."