G20Voice

So now that everything is back to normal, what did the G20 actually accomplish and what did it not (from the Green perspective)?

On Friday, 9-25-09 I participated in the Mass Meditation for Peace in Schenley Park, watched Obama summarize what went on behind closed doors at the Convention Center, and attended the Michael Froman press conference at the August Wilson Center. For an interview with Peace Meditation organizer Sarah Bauer, my take on Obama’s speech and on the press conference, photos and original video by Jessica Silver visit http://pittsburghalphatoomega.com/mass-meditation-for-peace-obamas-speech-michael-froman-press-conference/

On Friday, I had the opportunity to listen to Pennsylvania Governor Rendell talk about Pennsylvania’s green initiatives. The governor addressed the bloggers and NGO representatives stationed at the August Wilson Center during the G20 in Pittsburgh.

Young activists from the Avaaz Action Factory joined the mass “People’s March” into downtown Pittsburgh on Friday afternoon, not far from the site of the G20 Summit, after holding their own climate-focused march in the morning. Their Twitter-friendly slogan is “G20 Climate FAIL,” criticizing what they say has been a lack of action toward a global climate treaty.

On Friday afternoon, President Barack Obama formally announced that the world’s 20 major developed and developing nations had agreed to gradually eliminate fossil-fuel subsidies. It was the only climate-specific policy directive to come out of the Group of 20 (G20) Summit in Pittsburgh, and it fell far short in the view of climate activists, who were hoping for a firm proposal on “climate finance”—G20 aid to poor nations for help in adapting to and mitigating climate change.

Climate activists were underwhelmed by what came out of this week’s Group of 20 summit in Pittsburgh in the way of formal climate change commitments.
True, the heads of state of the 20 leading developed and developing economies agreed to phase out fossil fuel subsidies “in the medium term.” But they couldn’t come to a consensus on climate finance — aid from richer nations to poorer, directed at adapting to and mitigating the impacts of global warming.

OFFICIAL STATEMENT
Today we agreed:
To launch a framework that lays out the policies and the way we act together to generate strong, sustainable and balanced global growth
To make sure our regulatory system for banks and other financial firms reins in the excesses that led to the crisis.
To reform the global architecture to meet the needs of the 21st century.
To take new steps to increase access to food, fuel and finance among the world’s poorest while clamping down on illicit outflows.
To phase out and rationalize over the medium term inefficient fossil fuel subsidies while providing targeted support for the poorest.
To maintain our openness and move toward greener, more sustainable growth.

Actor Djimon Hounsou is just as snacky in real life as he was on the big screen in Blood Diamond, The Island, and Gladiator. Better yet, he’s also a climate activist and humanitarian. As a global ambassador for the aid and development group Oxfam, Hounsou has traveled in sub-Saharan Africa and seen the direct links between climate change and human suffering.

President Obama will announce Friday that the once elite club of rich industrial nations known as the Group of 7 will be permanently replaced as a global forum for economic policy by the much broader Group of 20 that includes China, Brazil, India and other fast-growing developing countries, administration officials said Thursday.

Panelists on a discussion about efforts to fight global warming ahead of a key Copenhagen summit in December said it’s crucial for the G-20 take steps toward breaking gridlock over how emissions reductions will be financed.