G20 communique exposes split with US on climate policy

The G20 summit final communique has been issued with all members except the US collectively agreeing that the landmark Paris Climate Accord must be implemented.

The host of the summit, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, said on Saturday that she was very happy that all other countries agree the Paris Climate Accord is irreversible.

Merkel said she did not believe that the US President Donald Trump would reverse his decision to leave the Paris Climate Accord.

"We take note of the decision of the United States of America to withdraw from the Paris Agreement," the communique read. "The leaders of the other G20 members state that the Paris Agreement is irreversible."

In the G20 communique, the US merely agreed to work closely with other countries to help them access and use fossil fuels more cleanly and efficiently.

Earlier, the isolated US president delayed the G20 final communique, relishing the rift between the US and leaders of the world’s largest economies.

Last month, Trump pulled the US out of the landmark 2016 Paris Climate Agreement, claiming the deal was designed to weaken the US economy and give the upper hand to China.

Today, however, world top leaders have shown that they are collectively determined that the framework set by the Paris Climate Agreement is for all and no country, even a dominant power such as the US, has the right to pull out of the accord without facing dire consequences such as isolation, boycott and even confrontation.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Friday that "it will be very interesting to see how we formulate the communique …there are different opinions in this".

In a joint communique on Friday, Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa  - the BRICS countries - called for the implementation of the Paris climate deal, ratcheting up pressure on Trump to compromise on the treaty. 

"The Paris agreement on climate change is an important consensus that doesn't come easily and must not be given up easily," warned Chinese President Xi Jinping.

SS