European diplomats have expressed fears to BuzzFeed News that action on climate change will fall short at this year's G20 summit because the host, Argentina, doesn't want to upset US president Donald Trump.

They also worry the host is planning to sidestep a debate on another thorny issue, multilateral trade – the set of principles and rules that the world’s governments adhere to, and that underpin multilateral global trade – for the same reason.

When Argentine officials presented “issue notes” at a meeting in Bariloche in mid-December outlining the agenda for this year’s G20 summit to emissaries from the two dozen participating governments, a number of key issues were missing from their presentations. According to two diplomats present, those were “climate change”, “Paris Agreement”, “protectionism”, and the “multilateral trading system.”



As the G20 host, Argentina sets its priorities for the summit and coordinates how the overall agenda is structured. But the overall content has to ultimately be agreed, and negotiated, by all members during the year-long process.

Two European diplomats who spoke to BuzzFeed News on condition of anonymity said they were left dismayed and disappointed after seeing the notes – and with a sneaking feeling that Argentina would be looking for an unambitious consensus on climate action by simply avoiding the topics that put the Trump administration at loggerheads with the other 19 governments throughout 2017.



The diplomats said the Trump presidency was such a disruptive force that it was creating new dynamics between countries, and causing the world’s governments to forge new alliances on the global stage.

“[Argentina’s] desire to keep a consensus results in a tendency to try and side-step difficult issues such as the Paris Agreement and the future of the multilateral trading system,” one of the officials said.

At the meeting in Bariloche, a US official read out prepared remarks to underline the Trump administration’s support for an energy transition, and to help countries, especially emerging economies, along this path as long as any measures adopted cover a diverse portfolio of fuels, including “clean fossil fuels”.



“The US intervention was a bit of a buzzkill,” the diplomat said. “Their argument is that there shouldn’t only be a focus on new energy sources, but also [a focus] on the importance that ‘clean’ fossil fuels continue to have in light of low prices and the access this means for poorer countries.

“Basically, the US says it recognises the overall goal, reducing emissions, cleaner lands, water, and so on, but wants to do it their way.”

An Argentine government source told BuzzFeed News that in the G20 agenda, climate issues will be treated in “a manner that emphasises the continuity of dialogue and the search for common ground, with a focus on sustainable finance and promoting adaptation to climate change and extreme weather events.”



“The Climate Sustainability working group will address issues that feature in the Paris Agreement, like NDCs [nationally determined contributions],” the source said.

Fundamental differences between the Trump administration and the rest of the world’s advanced economies over trade and especially climate change were laid bare at a string of international meetings last year, including at the G20 in Germany and the G7 in Italy.