G20 countries are expected to further their talks on the acceleration of energy transition at their upcoming summit in Bali, Indonesia, as soaring energy prices have stalled decarbonization progress.

The G20 major economies have agreed to take steps such as ensuring achievement of the sustainable global development targets by 2030 after talks at the Energy Transitions Ministerial Meeting (ETMM) in September, Yudo Dwinanda Priaadi, chair of the summit's Energy Transitions Working Group, said at an online press conference earlier this week.

The ETMM also ended with the countries endorsing Indonesia's non-binding proposal, the Bali Compact, which contains nine principles including increasing energy efficiency implementation, diversifying energy systems and mix, and decreasing emission of all energy sources.

The efforts to push for energy transition come at a time when the COVID-19 pandemic, energy price challenges and high inflation have hit the global economy and made energy less accessible to many countries across the world, while geopolitical differences have further complicated the transition.

The ETMM failed to produce a joint communique due to differences among the countries, but the Bali Compact, which has been translated into a Bali Energy Transition Road Map, will be brought to the summit.

The drive to curb climate change is becoming increasingly pressing. According to a September analysis by consulting firm PwC, decarbonization rates in the G20 economies slumped to their lowest in two decades last year, falling short of what is needed to reach the global climate goal.

PwC said that while global decarbonization fell to 0.5 percent, a long way below the 12.9 percent required to keep temperature rises in line with the target, it landed at just 0.2 percent in the G20.

Indonesia, the chair of this year's G20 Summit, will keep working on three main issues: access to energy, which is especially challenging for island nations in the Asia-Pacific region; innovation and implementation of clean energy technologies; and finance – until they are agreed upon at the summit, Priaadi told China Dialogue, a non-profit group.