Despite not being at the G20 economic summit in Brazil, Donald Trump's policies - including trade tariffs and walking away from climate action commitments - dominated the undercurrent of discussions.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says trade provides economic opportunity globally, especially in Australia where one in four jobs depends on trade.
"The outcomes achieved here are all about jobs and economic activity in Australia," he told reporters in Brazil on Wednesday (AEDT) after the summit.
Here at this summit in Brazil, I've been able to meet with leaders to work on solutions to our shared challenges. — Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) Addressing supply chain issues that have pushed up prices, global action on climate change, and the opportunities that clean energy provides to our economies were… pic.twitter.com/ltVhrZUPDMNovember 19, 2024
Pacific nations have called for Australia to do more to transition away from fossil fuels as one of the world's largest exporters, and as Canberra works to co-host a major climate summit alongside regional partners.
Turkey - which is also bidding to host COP31 in 2026 - fired a pot-shot at Australia at the 2024 summit as its deputy environment minister highlighting her nation's smaller fossil fuel exports amid a standoff over hosting rights.
Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen acknowledged Australia's fossil fuel exports but also touted its large-scale transition to renewable energy.
Declaring the climate was at breaking point, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told G20 leaders his words should be taken "not as a briefing but as a deeply felt appeal".
Global climate-change policies were inadequate and put the world on a path towards more than 3C of warming, doubling the 1.5C needed to mitigate catastrophic disasters, he warned.
"Unfortunately, right now, emissions are still rising so we must speed up the just transition from fossil fuels to renewables," he said.
Pacific nations have called for Australia to do more to transition away from fossil fuels. (AP PHOTO)
Mr Guterres called on world leaders to announce more ambitious emissions reduction targets for 2035 as US President Joe Biden sought to push leaders on commitments ahead of Mr Trump's ascendancy.
"President Biden rallied G20 leaders in Rio to raise their climate ambition and develop innovative solutions to support the clean energy transition," the White House said in a statement.
Signatories to a global climate agreement must announce more ambitious emissions reduction targets every five years.
Australia's 2030 target is a 43 per cent reduction but the Albanese government is tight-lipped on its 2035 plan.
It's the same agreement Mr Trump has threatened to pull out of when he returns to the Oval Office, sparking global concern about the environmental impact and loss of green energy investment if he scraps Biden-era subsidies and incentives.
Australia is positioning itself as a good place for renewable investment if the US scales back green energy incentives, given its abundance of wind and solar resources.
If the US Inflation Reduction Act was repealed by Mr Trump, "there will still be firms that are over there that might move to other locations where the jurisdiction is a lot more open to investment in that space", Industry Minister Ed Husic told AAP.
Anthony Albanese held a series of meetings with world leaders on the sidleines of the G20 summit. (AP PHOTO)
The G20 leaders' statement called for taxes on the ultra-rich to create a fairer tax system, more aid and a ceasefire in Gaza.
It recognised the need to increase climate financing "from billions to trillions from all sources".
But it did not mention Russia as the aggressor in Ukraine, only highlighting human suffering and economic impacts from the war, and pledged no concrete environmental commitments to reach a consensus.
Omitting reference to Russia irked European officials, with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz saying "it's too little when the G20 cannot find the words to make it clear Russia is responsible".
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