Divided G20 fails to agree on climate, Ukraine

Leaders attending the launch of the Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty pose for a group photo after the first session of the G20 Leaders' Meeting in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on November 18, 2024.

G20 leaders failed on Monday to break a deadlock in U.N. climate talks at a summit in Rio that was dominated by divergences over the war in Ukraine and Donald Trump's impending return to the White House.

Ahead of the meeting, the U.N. had implored the leaders of the world's richest economies to rescue stalled climate talks in Azerbaijan by boosting funding for developing countries struggling with global warming.

G20 members, who are divided on who should pay, did not make such commitments, saying only that the trillions of dollars needed would come "from all sources."

The risk of an escalation in the war in Ukraine and the prospect of a return of U.S. President-elect Trump's isolationist "America First" policies also dominated the talks in Brazil.

U.S. President Joe Biden is attending the summit, but as a lame duck eclipsed by China's Xi Jinping, who has cast himself as a protector of the international order in the new Trump era.

Xi, who held back-to-back meetings with other leaders, warned the world faced a new period of "turbulence" and said there should be "no escalation of wars, and no fanning of flames."

The leaders of the G20 - which mixes steadfast Israel allies such as the U.S. and Argentina with countries like Türkiye that are more supportive of Palestinians - called for "comprehensive" ceasefires in both Gaza and Lebanon.

They said the Gaza ceasefire should be in line with a U.S.-proposed U.N. resolution calling for a permanent ceasefire in the territory in return for the release of all...