UK's Johnson seeks 'G20 bounce' for key climate conference

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is flying to a Group of 20 summit in Rome with one big goal

LONDON -- British Prime Minister Boris Johnson flies to a Group of 20 meeting in Rome on Friday with one big goal: to persuade the leaders of the world’s biggest economies to put their money where their mouth is at the U.N. climate summit in Scotland.

Johnson will deploy his ebullience and his — admittedly divisive — charm to try to extract cash and carbon-cutting commitments from the G-20, which contains some of the world’s biggest carbon emitters, including China, the United States, India and Russia.

Accounting for 75% of the world’s trade and 60% of its population, the G-20 has often been accused of being too big and diffuse to take strong collective action. And Johnson’s Brexit-tinged global image means his arm-twisting power may be limited.

The G-20 is meeting as the European Union and ex-member Britain wrangle over trade rules, and amid a simmering U.K.-France spat over fishing rights in the English Channel. France is also incensed over a U.S.-U.K.-Australia nuclear submarine deal that saw Australia cancel a multibillion-dollar contract to buy French subs.