Preliminary findings and proposals by Task Force 2 on Climate Change, Sustainable Energy & Environment

Fighting climate change while relaunching the global economy

  • Resetting low carbon green growth policies through stimulus packages in the aftermath of covid-19 pandemic. Devising recovery programs and bankable projects with the establishment of a low-carbon finance catalysing facility. Enhancing supportive tax policy frameworks and bailout conditions to incentivise low-carbon green growth.
  • Defining globally accepted rules for a Border Carbon Adjustment (BCA) mechanisms – so that they cannot be used to hide protectionism – is increasingly needed. The G20 would be the ideal framework for this purpose.
  • Asking the G20 to swiftly act to fill the existing vacuum on coordination in global governance architecture. It is an imperative to align the climate and trade/investment legal and policy regimes.
  • Providing help from the G20 at international level to adopt a clear and unambiguous definition of “green bond”, in order to have a well-functioning green bond market.
  • Establishing a unified green rating agency in order to avoid having different standards for each country.

Green investments and the public-private link

  • Promoting energy efficiency financing in the G20. Filling the investment gap of energy efficiency by incentivizing fiscal instruments such as subsidies and tax exemptions that should be implemented globally with the same tax rate.
  • Setting up an International Hydrogen Economy Initiative (IHEI) – with its Secretariat based in Rome – aimed at diffusing best practices in policy instrument design related to green hydrogen. The Secretariat should convene working groups, inter alia one on green steel support policies, in collaboration with the World Steel Association. Such policies could include degressive contracts for difference for green steel production, linked to temporal milestones specified ex ante.

Fighting climate change through nature-based solutions:

The G20 should control climate change by mobilizing nature-based solutions to:

  1. Foster forests ecosystems by supporting the Restor platform to help regrow one trillion trees by 2025;
  2. Preserve peatlands and wetlands as natural protected areas;
  3. Clean cities by cutting air and lead pollution by 25% by 2025;
  4. Green coasts, in small island developing states, through “SDR for NBS” swaps.
  5. Raise renewables share of energy to 25% by 2030, double geothermal, tidal and wave power’s share by 2025 and cut coal;
  6. Lower Land-Use Stress, by shifting animal to plant-based agriculture, and minimizing food waste and methane emissions

Just transition towards climate-neutral economies

  • Creating a G20 Forum on energy poverty, for establishing an institutional dialogue in which public finance and public authorities identify and disseminate the best regulatory and business model practices on energy poverty.

Preserving marine biodiversity and natural protected areas

  • To limit global warming and deal with its effects, asking the G20 to act by combining the necessary transition to emission-free renewable energy along with full implementation of the REDD+ Mechanism and a new “REDD+ Blue Carbon” Mechanism and other mechanisms such as regenerative agriculture.

Food and water security in the post-Covid19 scenario

  • Promoting and supporting international coordination of the smart repurposing of agricultural subsidies under the leadership of the G20. The G20 should support the strengthening and enhancement of the AgIncentives Consortium to assess alternative options for effective and smart repurposing of existing agricultural support measures aligned with objectives of sustainability and efficiency of food systems, poverty reduction, food security and affordability of healthy diets.

Aims, measures and tools to enhance the circular economy

  • Encouraging the establishment of guiding principles to encourage governments to use plastic responsibly and promote research and innovation alternatives. Plastic pollution should be reduced and plastics’ role in the circular carbon economy should be reinforced. The G20 should reinforce the need to invest in waste management infrastructure globally, with a focus on finding ways to create greater circularity for plastic waste in the economy.
  • To accelerate decarbonization pathways and Carbon Circular Economy (CCE), supporting the creation of and adherence to consistent measuring, reporting, verifying and certification of the emissions content of internationally-traded products.

Sustainable development education to empower the youth

  •  Establishing a G20 Commission to examine ways to enhance youth agency and transformations for sustainability, and to prepare youth for the transitions necessary for the new ways of living, learning and working in the digital age.  The G20 Commission will focus the efforts of the G20 partnership on accelerating the implementation of quality youth education for climate change and sustainable development across formal and non-formal learning contexts