Climate change, efforts to reduce surplus production capacity in steel and other industries and limits on use of tax havens are all hot topics, said the AP on Wednesday. Washington has been deeply concerned about China’s territorial ambitions in waters far off its coast, while Beijing looks warily at Obama’s efforts to expand US influence in Asia, viewing it as an attempt to contain China’s rise. “We would be stepping back from that leadership role, we would be ceding the region to country like China who do not set the same types of high standards for trade agreements”.
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Lagarde will tell G20 leaders that further reductions in growth potential and more obstacles to the free movement of goods, services, capital and people would hurt all of them, said the report.
Under the Paris accord, Xinhua said, China will have to cut its carbon emissions per unit of GDP by 60 to 65 percent from 2005 levels by 2030 and increase non-fossil fuel sources in primary energy consumption to about 20 percent.
The formal U.S. -Chinese announcement means the accord could enter force by the end of the year, faster than anticipated.
The world’s top two polluters should “pressure” other G20 members to ratify the agreement, Greenpeace added. Together, China and the USA account for nearly 40 percent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions.
“You know China calls itself a developing country, but we know that the Chinese have the second largest economy in the world and the rate at which they are growing, they will soon become the most important country in terms of the size of their economy”, Osei, who is also a former Ghana Ambassador to the United States.
As for its commitments to the climate deal, the US pledged to cut its emissions 26 percent to 28 percent over the next 15 years, compared to 2005 levels. “The question is whether all G20 countries will make a similar commitment”, he said.
Obama was also planning to hold one-on-one talks with the leaders of China, Turkey and Great Britain’s new premier, Theresa May, concerns about the U.K.’s decision to leave the European Union.
When historians “look closely at the so-called rebalance or pivot … the most significant legacy for the president is going to be engagement of Southeast Asia”, says Michael Green, senior vice president for Asia at the Center for Strategic and International Security Studies (CSIS) in Washington. “And that risk is magnified by the way in which fossil fuel subsidies distort the energy market”.
For its part, India would highlight the need for structural reforms to create jobs, inclusive growth and climate finance at the summit, Secretary Economic Affairs, Shaktikanta Das has said last month.
Germany will host next year’s G-20 summit. Recommendations included calls for collective agreement on trade issues, strengthened intergovernmental cooperation against corruption, bridging the gap in infrastructure investment, promoting a multinational framework on investment and expanding access to financing for SMEs.
“That a low carbon future is where the world is heading”.
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