G20 countries agree to increase clean energy but reach no deal on phasing out fossil fuels

By SIBI ARASU
Associated Press

NEW DELHI (AP) — G20 leaders have agreed to triple renewable energy and try to increase the funds for climate change-related disasters but maintained the status quo with regards to phasing out carbon spewing coal. At a news conference shortly after the leaders of the Group of 20 of the world’s biggest economies — which also emit 80% of all planet-warming gases — announced the agreement on Saturday, Amitabh Kant, a senior Indian government official leading some of the G20 negotiations, called it “probably the most vibrant, dynamic and ambitious document on climate action.” Most climate and energy experts agree that the G20 leaders put out a strong message on climate action, even as the world is seeing increasingly frequent natural disasters such as extreme heat.