Finance officials from the world's 20 biggest economies (G20) meeting in Riyadh on Sunday reached agreement on the wording of a final communique that includes a reference to climate change for the first time, G20 diplomatic sources said.

A man participates in a strike to call attention to climate change in New York, the United States, on September 20, 2019. (Xinhua/Li Muzi)

Overcoming US objections, the compromise language retained a reference to work by the Financial Stability Board to examine the implications of climate change on financial stability, although it dropped climate change from its list of downside risks to global economic growth.

One of the sources said it was the first time a reference to climate change had been included in a G20 finance communique, even though it was removed from the top of the joint statement.

G20 finance ministers and central bankers are meeting in the Saudi capital to discuss top global economic challenges, including the spread of the new coronavirus.

G20 officials completed work on the communique on Sunday morning. The final wording was not immediately available.

Delegates worked out a compromise after Washington objected to the initial proposed language, which had included "macroeconomic risk related to environmental stability" in a list of downside risks, two G20 diplomatic sources said.

The communique forecasts a modest pick-up in global growth this year and next, but cites downside risks to this outlook stemming from geopolitical and remaining trade tensions and policy uncertainty.

G20 sources said the United States was refusing to accept language on climate change as a risk to the economy, and other delegates might ultimately have to revert to an earlier draft that did not include the climate language.

Stephanie Segal, a former senior US Treasury official and fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said there was another alternative to striking the climate change language - an agreement by all other nations.

"There's precedent for the 19 + 1 configuration, sad as that is, from Germany's G20 presidency," she said, referring to the July 2017 G20 summit when all leaders backed a single communique with pledges on trade, finance, energy and Africa, but Washington refused to back language on climate change.

However, G20 host nation Saudi Arabia was keen to secure passage of a unanimous communique, and other countries that wanted climate-change language were focused on resolving an impasse on global tax reforms, diplomats said.


Newspaper headline: G20 reaches final deal in Riyadh