Rio de Janeiro will host the 2024 Group of 20 major economies (G20) summit kicking off this week, as Heads of state arrived in Rio on Sunday (Monday AEDT), set to address issues from climate change to global conflicts.
Following the United Nation’s COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan last week where around 100 world leaders reached a stalemate with agreeing a goal to mobilise hundreds of billions of dollars for climate finance, U.N. officials have appealed to G20 leaders to break the standoff.
G20 countries account for 85% of the world's economy and are the largest contributors to multilateral development banks helping to steer climate finance, while contributing more than three-quarters of greenhouse gas emissions worldwide.
U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres posted on X: “The #G20 must lead by example. This is fundamental to trust, credibility, and legitimacy of every government and our global system in these turbulent times.
“We need to seize every opportunity to lead transformative action for a safer, more peaceful and sustainable world.”
The G20 Summit gives heads of state and government opportunities to deal with global challenges, with the event scheduled for November 18 and 19, including the presence of the leaders of the 19 member countries, plus the African Union and the European Union.
Ahead of arriving at the Summit, Joe Biden visited the Amazon rainforest on Sunday, the first U.S. President to do so, meeting with local leaders working to preserve the rainforest.
Biden warned of the impacts of global warming, which has been widely dismissed by President-elect Donald Trump, who has declared to once again withdraw the U.S. from the Paris climate accord.
Business leaders at the U.N. climate conference considered the challenging outlook ahead for U.S. climate policy, as Washington transitions to Donald Trump’s second term.
Global warming is set to take centre stage at the summit, but the issue of global conflicts is also expected to dominate discussions as European diplomats push to revisit previously agreed language on the topic after Russia unleashed its largest air strike on Ukraine in almost three months.