Crispian and Elizabeth Balmer

ROME, (Reuters) – Global leaders must intensify their efforts to combat climate change. Boris Johnson the British Prime Minister warned that the world’s civilisation could fall as fast as the Roman Empire if nothing is done.

Johnson spoke just hours before the leaders of the 20 largest economies of the Group of Twenty meet in Italy. He said that future generations would be at risk of hunger, conflict, and mass migration if there is no progress on climate change.

Reporters were told by he that there is “absolutely no doubt” that it is a fact that we must confront. He also warned of the dangers that human living conditions can rapidly worsen if they don’t make a collective effort to change.

“You saw that with the decline and fall of the Roman Empire and I’m afraid to say it’s true today.”

This is the first opportunity for G20 leaders to have face-toface meetings in over two years, as COVID-19 begins to subside in many countries.

While the health crisis and the economic recovery are prominent topics on the agenda for the meeting, the crucial and most difficult discussion will be about how far leaders are willing to cut greenhouse gas emissions and help poorer countries combat global warming.

G20, Brazil, China India, Germany, and the United States together account for over 80% each of the world’s Gross Domestic Product, 60 percent of its people, and more than 80% in carbon emissions.

Many of the leaders in Rome, including U.S. President Joe Biden, will fly immediately afterwards to Scotland for a United Nation’s climate summit https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/sticking-points-un-climate-conference-2021-10-18. It’s also called COP26. This summit is crucial to address rising temperatures.

U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres said to reporters Friday that all roads to success lead through Rome on the eve COP26 in Glasgow.

MISSING LEADERS

But, the expectations for major progress were dimmed when the Chinese President Xi Jinping, along with Russia’s Vladimir Putin, decided to remain at home and not attend as many of their counterparts.

Biden lost his own hope of proving that the United States is leading the global fight against climate change when he was unable to persuade fellow Democrats to support a $1.85 billion economic and environmental spending plan.

Reuters obtained a draft from the final communique. This document stated that G20 leaders will pledge to immediately take action to achieve the goal of limiting global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degree Fahrenheit). However, they won’t make any legally binding promises.

The global economy and response to pandemics will be the focus of day one of these discussions.

The rising cost of energy and the stretched supply chain will be tackled. It was expected that leaders would endorse plans for vaccinating 70% of the global population against COVID-19 between mid-2022 to establish a taskforce to combat future pandemics.

Following a G20 meeting, Olaf Scholz (German Finance Minister) said to reporters that “we hope we can lay the foundations for more countries so that there is a greater distribution of vaccines.”

“This global crisis requires global solutions.”

It was expected that there would be lots of diplomacy at the sidelines. There were many bilateral meetings and the heads of France, Britain, Germany, Germany, and the United States will hold four-way discussions on Iran.

Rome was placed on high-security alert with approximately 6,000 officers and 500 soldiers being deployed to ensure order.

Two demonstration rallies are authorized for the day. However, protestors will not be allowed to enter the summit centre in the suburb that Benito Mussolini built.