India along with 18 other G20 members strongly supported their fight against global warming stating that the Paris climate deal was “irreversible”, leaving the United States, which walked out of the pact, isolated. The US remained adamant and moved out of the Paris pact even as all other members showed strong support on climate change. The disharmony was unbelievable at the annual Group of 20 meeting of world economic powers held in Hamburg this year, a stage known for discussion on easy-to-agree-on issues. Negotiators were known to have taken all possible initiatives toward a consensus but a chasm between US and the rest of the world was very obvious. Uncertainties were a hallmark. Even in areas of fair compromise such as trade, top European leaders left with little faith that an agreement forged today could hold tomorrow. There were few issues like terrorism that found consensus. There were huge concerns about authoritarian regimes, and even within the Western world, there were real divisions and uncertainties that didn’t exist earlier. Even though there were a few significant takeaways from the summit with some areas of agreement, the biggest disappointment was the US action on climate change. On the flip side, a unified world emerged with a firm resolve to take the climate deal further, without the US.
