Sharjah24 – Reuters: Leaders of the Group of 20 major economies sit down for a second day of talks on Sunday faced with the difficult task of bridging their differences on how to combat global warming ahead of a crucial United Nations summit on climate change.

The first day of the Rome summit - the leaders' first face-to-face gathering since the start of the COVID pandemic - focused mainly on health and the economy, while climate and the environment is front and centre of Sunday's agenda.

Climate scientists and activists are likely to be disappointed unless late breakthroughs are made, with drafts of the G20's final communique showing little progress in terms of new commitments to curb pollution.


The G20 bloc, which includes Brazil, China, India, Germany and the United States, accounts for an estimated 80% of the global greenhouse gas emissions which scientists say must be steeply reduced to avoid climate catastrophe.

For that reason, this weekend's gathering is seen as an important stepping stone to the UN's "COP26" climate summit attended by almost 200 countries, in Glasgow, Scotland, where most of the G20 leaders will fly directly from Rome.