Somini Sengupta:
It’s worth remembering that the lion’s share of greenhouse gas emissions that are warming up the planet come from the Group of 20, and so any hope to stave off the worst effects of climate change rests in the hands of G20 leaders. They are very much under the spotlight and their leaders, when they come up to make speeches over the next two days, will be under scrutiny by, I’m sure, their citizens at home and everyone else at the climate summit in Glasgow. There still is ample opportunity for countries, for big, important countries to ratchet up their climate ambition. There is also time, and this is going to be closely watched, what are the richest countries of the world, the countries of the global north that are responsible for the cumulative emissions—what financial commitments are they going to make in the coming days to help developing countries, emerging economies and poor countries make this enormous energy transition, one that would get them to really tamp down on burning fossil fuels and shift to renewable energy systems? It’s an enormous transition, and money remains a big point of contention.