G20: Albanese raises climate, Ukraine war as Biden looks to Trump proof

Rio de Janeiro: Australia has called on G20 leaders to confront the ongoing wars in the Middle East and Ukraine and stay the course on fighting climate change as the world braces for a significant period of uncertainty.

Anthony Albanese will make the case in two interventions at the G20 in Brazil on Monday and Tuesday (local time) around meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and EU President Ursula von der Leyen.

The meeting with Mr Xi, the third one since Mr Albanese took office, is likely to focus on trade amid high anxiety around tariffs and regional security.

While US President-elect Donald Trump will likely form the backdrop to that meeting, Mr Albanese will also address the threat the incoming administration poses to global climate action in his message to all leaders.

Mr Trump has indicated he would withdraw the US from the Paris Agreement and reverse climate investment, which Mr Albanese last week suggested could benefit Australia.

In the speech he’ll give to fellow leaders on Tuesday, Mr Albanese will urge them to mobilise capital to reach net zero and say the forum had the chance to send a “clear message... that the biggest economies in the world remain committed to tackling one of the biggest challenges facing the world.”

“Climate change doesn’t just mean greater risk of extreme weather... The human toll is immeasurable,” he will say as he commits Australia to helping end global hunger and poverty.

His speech will come after outgoing US President Joe Biden became the first US president to visit the Amazon and pledge an additional $50m to protect the rainforest — a move anticipating Mr Trump’s likely climate change shift.

Global leaders also anticipate what a second Trump presidency will mean for global security. In a separate intervention on Monday (local time), Mr Albanese will also call for more urgency to end the conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine, asking leaders to be more assertive as he warns about the loss of innocent lives and the global economic fallout from the conflicts.

His plea will come just days after he joined like-minded allies at APEC to call for consensus on treating the conflicts as economic issues — an attempt thwarted by Russia and others.

Last year’s G20 ended without mentioning Hamas’ October 7 attacks or Israel’s subsequent attacks on Gaza, and while the final communique expressed concern about the war in Ukraine, it did not condemn Russia for its invasion.

But after thousands of North Korean troops arrived in Russia in recent weeks, the conflict will be high on the agenda. Before arriving in Rio, US President Joe Biden on Sunday (local time) approved Ukrainian use of US long-range weapons to strike Russia in yet another move that pre-empts an anticipated Trump policy shift.

Mr Albanese will say the G20 is a “vital opportunity for the international community to call for a de-escalation of the violence in the Middle East and to condemn the illegal and immoral actions of Russia and North Korea”.

He will argue that the conflicts are directly connected to global inflation, energy prices, hunger, and poverty.

“We should be very clear about the link between international conflict and global hunger,” he will say.

“Because there can be no food security without national and regional security. And while peace alone does not guarantee prosperity - conflict always brings poverty.”

Regional security will likely also feature in Mr Albanese’s meetings with his UK counterpart and AUKUS ally Sir Keir and Mr Xi.

Mr Xi has used the back-to-back APEC and G20 summits to shore up economic ties amid fears of a trade war with Donald Trump, who has vowed to impose 60 per cent tariffs on Chinese goods.

Beijing last week praised Mr Albanese for his “strategic autonomy” in managing Australia’s relationship with both the US and China amid the period of “global uncertainty” and painted him as a role model for other US allies trying to navigate its partnerships.