China says 'geopolitics' behind no consensus in G-20 climate meeting

By Alperen Aktas and Riyaz ul Khaliq

ISTANBUL (AA) - China on Wednesday blamed “geopolitics” for the outcome of a G-20 meeting in India in which environment ministers failed to reach a consensus on ways to address the global climate crisis.

India is the current chair of the G-20, a forum of the world’s largest economies said to be responsible for around 80% of global carbon emissions, and the meeting was held in the southern city of Chennai.

But the bloc remained divided on calls to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases, and scaling up the use of renewable energy.

Reports accusing Beijing of backtracking on its position on the climate issues “totally run counter to facts,” China’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Beijing said the meeting had "reached the outcome document and Chair’s summary and achieved positive and balanced outcomes." But "some countries introduced geopolitical issues as an obstruction and the meeting failed to adopt a communique."

“China finds it regrettable,” it added.

The 18th G-20 summit is slated for Sept. 9-10 in New Delhi, while the COP28 summit will be held in the United Arab Emirates in December.