Germany’s G20 presidency dramatically weakened a climate action plan, gutting it of ambitious language and defining gas, and potentially even some coal power, as “clean technologies”, in an attempt to appeal to US president Donald Trump. Arthur Nelsen of Climate Home Europe takes a look. The action plan was intended to be agreed at the Hamburg G20 summit. Climate Home has seen two versions, drafted in March and May of this year. The latter shows the degree to which the German presidency has bent to the will of the Trump White House. Several elements that have been removed in the May draft are: A 2025 deadline for the end of fossil fuel subsidies References to the risk of “stranded assets” A call for “the alignment of public expenditure and infrastructure planning with the goals of the Paris Agreement” A push for carbon pricing A commitment to publish mid-century decarbonisation blueprints by next year A pledge to develop a “profound” climate plan for multilateral development banks Seven references to the UN’s 2018 review of nationally-determined contributions … Continue reading Germany ‘massively weakened’ draft G20 climate plan to appease Trump