New Delhi: A lack of unanimity on climate targets among countries participating in the G20 summit has worried the organisers of the UN’s annual climate change conference.Environment and climate ministers from participating countries met in Goa last week but were unable to reach a consensus on issues such as tripling renewable energy capacities by 2030 and phasing down fossil fuel use, reports by the Hindustan Times and news agency Reuters said.As a result, their meeting produced an outcome statement and a chair’s summary on July 22 instead of a joint communique, Reuters reported.India is the G20’s president this year and will host the main summit in September in New Delhi.Union power and renewable energy minister R.K. Singh told a press conference after the Goa meeting that some countries sought alternative goals regarding the phase down of fossil fuels.“Basically, [on] the question of … the phase down of fossil fuels … some countries felt that … there were also options of carbon capture and storage and also … of [abatement],” he said.“So that went into the chair’s summary as there was no unanimity.”Observers who attended the Goa meeting told HT that the US resisted targets for the tripling of renewable energy, while the Saudi Arabia delegation opposed the wording on the phasing down of fossil fuels.The chair’s summary also said that some participating countries emphasised phasing down fossil fuels “in line with different national circumstances.”The ministers are meeting again on Friday, July 28 in Chennai. HT reported that they are expected to release a joint communique this time, although there are still disagreements on some targets.Also Read: Modi Says India Only G20 Country to Fulfil Paris Agreement Obligations – But Tracker Says OtherwiseAn official who will attend the meeting and wished not to be named told the daily that efforts were on to try and forge a compromise among the delegates.“What has already not been agreed on in the energy track in Goa cannot be agreed on here. The 1.5 degree will be cushioned. There are disagreements on that. Everyone is holding their positions on emissions, climate finance etc,” they said. “We are trying to be as inclusive as possible. We are also trying other means like making them sign on blue economy principles, which is also a climate issue with sea level rise and ocean acidification.”The official was referring to the G20’s goal to limit global warming to 1.5 °C.G20 countries are responsible for 80% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions.Climate scientists have said that the 1.5 °C limit must be achieved by the beginning of the next century in order to avoid the worst effects of climate change.Leaders behind the UN’s annual Conference of the Parties climate meet issued a statement about the results of the Goa meeting.“Those at the frontline of climate change need our support now, not in [five] years’ time … We must leave Chennai on the right path and with a clear signal that the political will to tackle the climate crisis is there,” they said.UN general secretary Antonio Guterres said in a press conference on July 27 that world leaders, and especially those of the G20 countries, “must step up for climate action and climate justice.”His comments come as a report by the World Meteorological Organisation found the first few weeks of July this year to be the hottest on record, calling it the “harsh reality of climate change and a foretaste of the future.”