INTERNATIONAL: Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi on Saturday has welcomed G20 leaders ahead of a key 2-day summit in Rome. The world's 20 richest countries are due to commit this weekend to tackling the existential threat of climate change, paving the way for more detailed action at a UN climate change summit next week in Glasgow.

G20 is the premier forum for international economic cooperation. Italy assumed the G20 2021 Presidency on the 1 December 2020.

There are 20 members of the group: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, the European Union, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Spain is a permanent guest invitee.

All G20 leaders gather on Saturday and Sunday in Rome beforehand, and pledged to take urgent steps to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. There are 20 members of the group: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, the European Union, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Spain is a permanent guest invitee.

The 2015 Paris Agreement committed signatories to keeping global warming to "well below" 2 degrees above pre-industrial levels, and preferably to 1.5 degrees, carbon levels in the atmosphere have since grown. UN climate experts say a 2050 deadline is crucial to meet the 1.5 degree limit, but some of the world's biggest polluters say they cannot reach it, with China, by far the largest carbon emitter, aiming for 2060.