The New G-ZERO, Why It Matters: Bhutan-led Net-Zero Global Climate Advocacy

_{Source: Author’s compilation of G-ZERO Joint Press Release, and morungexpress.com}

Research Relevance

It is suggested here that the launch of G-ZERO deserves more research attention.

Previous studies have already drawn attention to the roles and specific interests of developing countries in climate governance.  This pioneering research examined the evolution of climate policies inside a range of developing nations and the array of actors, interests, institutions and ideas that shaped their national approaches.  It highlighted the specific realities and unique challenges that developing countries face in meeting their climate commitments, and the factors that determined success or failure in each national case.

What makes the G-ZERO relevant are the new dimensions of collective action of this new grouping of developing countries – smaller net zero-emitters – how and why they are working together in this emerging track of global governance. 

A focus on the G-ZERO pushes the analysis beyond the climate action of large developing countries, namely the ‘BASIC’ countries (Brazil, South Africa, India and China) at the UNFCCC meetings.  The emergence of the G-ZERO highlights the contrast in the interests and positioning of smaller developing countries versus the large- and medium-sized emerging economies such as the group of 24 countries which rejected the call for global net-zero emissions by 2050 at COP 26 in Bristol, England (October 2021), including India, China, Egypt, Indonesia, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Vietnam.  Then again at COP 28 in Dubai (December 2023), when China and India chose not to endorse the pledge to triple their sources of renewable energy by 2030, which was signed by 120 other countries. 

However, China, the United States and India are needed to play a major role if the world is to reach the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degree centigrade (China is the world’s largest emitter of carbon dioxide, the United States is second, and India is third).

Research on the G-ZERO furthermore opens-up the climate diplomacy of smaller climate-vulnerable developing nations beyond the low-lying island-states inside UN circles.

Bhutan’s Leadership

In their joint Declaration, the four G-ZERO nations declared their ‘unified commitment’ to share experiences, exchange sustainability solutions and technical expertise on net-zero pathways and provide mutual support to each other.

Bhutanese Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay led the formation of the coalition and continues to play a key role. 

Considering Bhutan’s exemplary environmental stewardship and climate leadership – as the world’s only carbon-negative country (meaning it removes more greenhouse gases from the environment than it is producing), replanting of new forests, reliance on renewable hydroelectric power, free electricity to reduce wood burning, subsidies for LED lights and electric cars, strict rules on poaching, mining, hunting and pollution, creation of biological corridors where animals roam free, and promise to reach zero greenhouse gas emissions and waste by 2030 – Bhutan is uniquely qualified to lead the G-ZERO.

As one Bhutanese delegate stated, “as a nation that has always put nature and environmental conversation at the heart of its development, Bhutan has invaluable knowledge and experiences to share with the world in terms of living in harmony with nature.”

One Bhutanese participant at COP 29 suggested that the G-ZERO initiative “presents opportunities to call for increased financial and technical support from the international community to enable vulnerable countries and communities to mitigate… the impact of changing climate.”

Prime Minister Tobgay called the launch of G-ZERO a “historic milestone”, and he stated that, “our launch… is not a mere declaration – it is a commitment to lead by example and advocate for a global response to the climate crisis.  We [G-ZERO] are firmly committed to spearheading the global movement toward climate neutrality and nature-positive solutions.” 

The Bhutanese Prime Minister underlined that G-ZERO serves as a “bridge to stronger international partnerships” in the “race to decarbonize the global economy”, a “testament” to the “strength of global partnerships”.  “It is a small but bold and meaningful endeavour by the founding countries.”

The G-ZERO, according to Tobgay, “embodies the possibility” that “economic growth can coexist with environmental sustainability.”  The Prime Minister emphasizes that the carbon neutrality and negative emissions of the G-ZERO nations are “not accidental” but rather the result of “intentional choices to conserve natural resources” – underscoring the need to decouple ‘development’ from conventional ‘growth’. 

PM Tobgay emphasized it is not only the G-ZERO member countries that face the ravages of climate change; rather all countries and peoples of the world continue to face the ravages and negative impacts of ongoing climate change. 

For example, shrinking Himalayan glaciers in Bhutan create landslides that destroy the natural and lived environment inside the country, but also negatively impacts water supply to India, China and Southeast Asia, across the Asian region.  In turn, these devasting climate impacts cause biodiversity loss and intensified natural disasters across the region and beyond Asia.

Prime Minister Tobgay and the G-ZERO call on larger nations and economies, and the international community to recognize that smaller nations “can be leaders in sustainable growth”, setting powerful examples of environmental stewardship; what they have achieved on a smaller scale is “within reach for others as well.”

However, the G-ZERO also call on the bigger nations to support the emission-reduction in their countries, and to contribute to the amassing of sufficient financial support to address the growing global climate challenges.

Bhutan is showing tangible organizational leadership within the G-ZERO by hosting the permanent Secretariat for the G-ZERO, which will support the rotating host presidency format that the group has adopted, and provide an institutional focal point, and a hub of organizational continuity and memory for the grouping.  The Secretariat is coordinating the formulation of an action plan and detailed work programme for the upcoming year, for the next COP30 in Brazil.

Gregory T. Chin is Associate Professor of Political Economy in the Department of Politics and Faculty of Graduate Studies at York University, Canada.  He is the Co-Director of the Emerging Global Governance (EGG) Project with Global Policy journal.  Chin is a Senior Fellow of the Global Development Policy (GDP) Center at Boston University, and of the Foreign Policy Institute (FPI) at The Johns Hopkins University, SAIS, and a Fellow of LSE IDEAS.  He is on the Advisory or Editorial Boards of Review of International Political Economy, Global Governance journal, and The Journal of East Asian Studies. Dr. Chin is a former official of the Government of Canada. His forthcoming book, China and the Global Economic Order (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge Elements/Global China Series) is coauthored with Kevin P. Gallagher.

Photo by Prateek Katyal