Tag: G20 SUMMIT

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G20: UAE seeks solidarity in global response to climate challenges

The minister reiterated the UAE’s dedication to environmental protection and climate action through a whole-of-nation and all-inclusive approach to enhance ecological prosperity….reports Asian Lite News

Mariam bint Mohammed Almheiri, Minister of Climate Change and the Environment, participated in the Joint Environment and Climate Ministers’ Meeting as part of the G20 Summit, hosted under the presidency of the Republic of Indonesia.

At the event, Almheiri highlighted the importance of demonstrating solidarity by forging meaningful regional and global partnerships to tackle environmental and climate challenges proactively and systematically rather than reactively, to reverse the severe trends of biodiversity loss, pollution, ecosystem deterioration, and land degradation.

She said, “Nature is our greatest ally in the fight against climate and environmental challenges, and our responsibility is to protect it and ensure we pass on an inhabitable world to future generations. The window for action to avert worst-case scenarios is narrowing. We need to move from pledges to concrete and ambitious actions. The only way to succeed is by joining forces and working together harmoniously.

“On this journey, we must adopt an all-inclusive participatory approach to effectively drive climate ambition by enabling youth and women to be integral to setting up national policies and action plans.”

She pointed out that the outcomes of the G-20 meeting will be further pushed at the G-20 Summit in October in Indonesia, and the 27th UN Climate Change Conference (COP27), set to run in November in Egypt. These milestones will shape the processes of COP28 in 2023, which will feature the first global stocktake of the Paris Agreement.

The minister reiterated the UAE’s dedication to environmental protection and climate action through a whole-of-nation and all-inclusive approach to enhance ecological prosperity. She also stressed the UAE’s commitment to working with all countries through the G-20 framework to foster equitable, sustainable development worldwide.

At the meeting, participating countries endorsed the Joint G-20 Environment and Climate Ministers Communiqué that outlines core priorities to address pressing challenges, including driving more sustainable recovery, stepping up land- and sea-based actions to support environmental protection and climate objectives, and increasing resource mobilisation to achieve these goals.

The UAE is one of four guest countries, alongside Spain, Netherlands, and Singapore, invited by Indonesia to participate in the G-20 Summit in October 2022 in Bali.

ALSO READ: Jaishankar cements India-UAE ties

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G20 Rome summit ends with more commitments

The two-day summit was held both online and offline under the Italian Presidency of the G20. Indonesia will take over the rotating presidency from December 2021…reports Asian Lite News

 The G20 Summit in Rome ended on Sunday with the adoption of a declaration reaffirming the crucial role of multilateralism and international cooperation in overcoming the global challenges arising from the Covid-19 pandemic.

The “G20 Rome Leaders’ Declaration” pledges to strengthen the common response to the pandemic and pave the way for a global recovery, with particular concern for the most vulnerable, Xinhua news agency reported.

The leaders of the world’s major economies have pledged to use all available tools to address the consequences of the pandemic, sustain the recovery and remain vigilant to global challenges such as supply chain disruption.

Pic credits @g20org

Highlighting the essential role of vaccines in the fight against the pandemic, they vowed to advance efforts to ensure timely, equitable and universal access to safe, affordable, quality and effective vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics, with particular regard to the needs of low- and middle-income countries.

“We will take steps to help boost the supply of vaccines and essential medical products and inputs in developing countries and remove relevant supply and financing constraints,” the declaration said.

Regarding climate change, the leaders remain committed to the Paris Agreement goal to hold the global average temperature increase well below two degrees Celsius and to pursue efforts to limit it to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

Pic credits @g20org

“This summit was a success,” said Italy’s Prime Minister Mario Draghi at the closing press conference, adding that cooperation is essential on issues like climate, wealth and poverty.

“The form of cooperation we know best is multilateralism,” Draghi said, calling on G20 members to act swiftly together.

The G20 members account for almost two-thirds of the world’s population, over 80 per cent of the global gross domestic product (GDP) and 75 per cent of global trade.

The two-day summit was held both online and offline under the Italian Presidency of the G20. Indonesia will take over the rotating presidency from December 2021.

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-Top News Europe

G20 leaders converge in Rome with a packed agenda


The summit will be preceded by a G20 Joint Finance and Health Ministers’ meeting, which will also be hosted by Rome on Friday…reports Asian Lite News

The 16th G20 Summit, the first in-person gathering of leaders of the biggest economies since the onset of the pandemic early last year, will begin from Saturday in Italy’s capital city amid tight security measures and with a packed agenda.

The summit will be preceded by a G20 Joint Finance and Health Ministers’ meeting, which will also be hosted by Rome on Friday, reports Xinhua news agency.

According to Italy, holder of the G20 Presidency since December 1, 2020, the Summit’s agenda will cover the most pressing global health and economic issues related to the coronavirus pandemic.

These would include the need for the most developed economies to boost their efforts to ensure the fair and equitable global distribution of Covis-19 vaccines, especially to low-income countries.

Earlier this month, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres launched an appeal for some $8 billion to speed up vaccination.

The plan unveiled by the World Health Organization (WHO) aims at immunizing 70 per cent of the planet’s population by mid-2022.

The G20 leaders are also expected to discuss climate change, digital transformation and sustainable innovation, along with such issues as the situation in Afghanistan, on which Italy called an extraordinary G20 meeting earlier in October.

Since the G20 Summit is scheduled to take place just before the opening of the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow, Scotland (October 31-November 12), the leaders in Rome are expected to discuss a common strategy in coping with climate change.

The G20 countries have yet to agree on whether they should commit to limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius by around mid-century and also on the timing of the related decarbonization process.

Security will be tight in and around Rome’s La Nuvola Convention Centre in the EUR district, which will host the G20 Summit.

Rome’s airspace has been closed from Thursday to November 1., although the city’s Fiumicino and Ciampino airports will be allowed to operate.

The Italian capital’s police ranks will be bolstered by 500 extra officers, and Carabinieri (military police) and special units will be deployed across the city to ensure security.

Set up in 1999, the G20 serves as a main forum for international cooperation on financial and economic issues.

It comprises 19 countries: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Japan, India, Indonesia, Italy, Mexico, Russia, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Turkey, the UK, the US, plus the European Union.

Together, the G20 members represent almost two-thirds of the planet’s population and accounted for some 80 per cent of global gross domestic product and over 75 per cent of global trade in 2020.

ALSO READ: Modi Arrives in Rome to Attend G20 Summit

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Modi to meet Pope during G-20 summit

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will meet Pope Francis on October 30 during his G-20 summit in Italy, reports Asian Lite News

The Catholic Bishops’ body, Kerala Catholic Bishops Council (KCBC) President Cardinal George Alencherry in a statement said that they have come to know from official sources that the “meeting between His Holiness Pope Francis and Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi will take place on Saturday, October 30”.

Describing it as a “historic meeting, the Cardinal said it will “add more energy and warmth to the relations between our country and the Vatican and the Catholic Church”.

He also wished “all success” to the Prime Minister for all his events in Rome and Italy.

Modi will be travelling to Rome and Glasgow from October 29 to November 2 to attend the 16th G-20 Summit and the World Leaders’ Summit of COP-26 respectively, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has said.

Kerala Catholics upbeat

The Catholic community in Kerala is definitely in an upbeat mood, ahead of the meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi with the Pope Francis on Saturday at the Vatican. Christians in Kerala constitute around 19 per cent of the state’s 33 million population. The three Catholic churches account for 50 per cent of the Christians in the state.

In Kerala, the Roman Catholic, Latin and the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church owe their allegiance to the Pope. Cardinal Baselios Cleemis, Major Archbishop of the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church, said he is extremely delighted about the meeting. “It definitely is iconic, as one represents the Catholic community which is the biggest religious community in the world and the other who heads the world’s biggest democracy, which has an ancient culture. This makes us all Indians proud. I’m very confident that the meeting will give the human community a lot to ponder on the much needed religious harmony besides a deep caring for the poor and downtrodden,” said Cleemis.

Pope (ANI)

“I wish all the God’s blessings for the meeting and also about the subsequent outcome of this, which includes a wish of all, for a visit by the Pope to India.”

During their meeting in 2014 soon after Modi assumed office, Cleemis gave a memorandum stating that the Union Government should extend an invite to the Pope to visit India.

The last papal visit to India was a very brief one which took place in 1999 and the only time that a Pope visited Kerala was way back in 1986.

A Catholic on the condition of anonymity told IANS that a papal visit to Kerala is long delayed and Modi’s meeting with Pope Francis could set the ground for a possible visit by the latter to the state.

“Pope John Paul II is the only Pope who had visited Kerala. He was in the state for two days on February 7 and 8, 1986 and the purpose of his visit was to beatify Sister Alphonsa and Kuriakose Elias Chavara popularly known as Chavara Achen.”

Those, who attended the public meeting then, recall the Pope beginning his prayers at Kottayam on February 8, 1986 in Malayalam “Thinungelil Dhaivethinu Stuthi” (glory to the God in the height) thrice.

Modi arrives in Rome

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday arrived in Rome to attend the crucial 16th G20 Summit that will take place over the weekend, during which the leaders of the group will discuss the global economic recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic, sustainable development and climate change.

This is the first in-person G20 Summit since the outbreak of the global pandemic in early 2020.

The first day of the Summit will see deliberations on ‘Global Economy and Global Health’, while the second day will witness an address by the Prince of Wales on the topic of the role of private finance in the fight against climate change.

Also on the second day, world leaders will also deliberate on climate change and environment, sustainable development among other issues.

Before his departure, Modi tweeted on Thursday: “Over the next few days, I would be in Rome, the Vatican City and Glasgow to attend important multilateral gatherings like the G20 and COP26. There would also be various bilateral and community related programmes during this visit.”

In a separate statement, he said that the Summit will “allow us to take stock of the current global situation and exchange ideas on how the G20 can be an engine for strengthening economic resilience and building back inclusively and sustainably from the pandemic”.

Upon his arrival in the Italian capital on Friday, the Prime Minister said in a tweet: “Landed in Rome to take part in the G20 Summit, an important forum to deliberate on key global issues. I also look forward to other programmes through this visit to Rome.”

Modi was received by senior officials of the Italian government and Ambassador of India in Rome, according to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).

Modi’s visit to Rome and the Vatican City till October 31 comes at the invitation of his Italian counterpart Mario Draghi.

On the sidelines of the G20 Summit, Modi will also be meeting with leaders of other partner countries and review the progress in India’s bilateral relations with them.

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