G7 disappoints on climate progress with no deadlines on gas and coal use

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Climate experts have criticized the G7 advanced economies group for not committing to tougher action on fossil fuels after Germany and Japan prevailed respectively on continued use of gas and coal.

In their final communiqué, the leaders of the G7including the UK, US, France, Italy and Canada, have pledged to achieve a “fully or predominantly” decarbonised energy sector by 2035 and to “accelerate” the phase-out of coal-fired power unabated, but did not they managed to set a deadline for the latter .

Using the context of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the ensuing energy crisis, the G7 also underlined the “important role that increased deliveries of [liquefied natural gas] I can play”. He also said that “public investments in the gas sector may be appropriate as a temporary response” to the crisis.

Alden Meyer, a senior partner at E3G, said that “Germany’s insistence on more public investment in gas” and “Japan’s resistance to phasing out coal power generation” “have undermined the G7’s leadership in a moment when it is desperately needed”.

The lack of a coal phase-out date and the inclusion of the word “predominantly” put Japan behind its peers, as all remaining countries were taking concrete steps to become coal-free, E3G said.

The G7 countries had “chosen to stay on a fossil-fueled collision course,” said May Boeve, executive director of campaign group 350.org. The Climate Action Network, made up of 1,900 civil society organizations, said the “weak, loophole-filled pledges” were an “unacceptable disregard for growing warnings from scientists around the world”.

The energy policy dispute among the G7 nations has also led to growing criticism from other poorer and climate-vulnerable countries that major economies have backtracked on their climate targets.

A group of countries led by Chile, the Netherlands and New Zealand had called on the G7 to lead global efforts to phase out fossil fuels and accelerate the rollout of renewable energy. “We must end the era of fossil fuels,” they said in an open letter published on Friday.

While G7 energy and environment ministers pledged to decarbonise the energy sector by 2035 in talks ahead of their final meeting on Saturday, they were unable to set a timeline for a coal exit due to the opposition from Japan.

The G7 host country is heavily dependent on coal, oil and gas following the 2011 tsunami and Fukushima nuclear disasterand insisted that the move to clean energy must be what he describes as “realistic”.

Leaders said they would work to “end the construction” of new coal-fired power plants non-stop.

The lengthy final statement underlined the importance of improving energy efficiency and the need to “significantly accelerate” the introduction of renewable sources.

Fuels such as hydrogen and ammonia were identified as predominantly for use in sectors that are difficult to decarbonise due to their high energy needs, such as heavy industry and transportation, leaders said.

The group advocated the adoption of international standards for calculating the carbon intensity of hydrogen. Hydrogen is considered “green” if produced using renewable energy, however it can also be produced using polluting gases and coal.

The G7 also noted that carbon capture and storage technology, which has not been demonstrated on a large scale, could be important for decarbonising heavy industry.

Also reflected in the final communiqué were broad concerns about the security of supply of critical minerals and technology needed for the shift to cleaner energy, and fears that China might seek to dominate.

The nations have asked the International Energy Agency to make recommendations by the end of the year on how to diversify supplies of energy, critical minerals and clean energy generation.

The issue of finance for the poorest countries to address climate change has remained outstanding, with the G7 saying it is committed to a goal of allocating $100 billion a year in climate finance for developing countries this year. The UN pledge dates back to 2009 and has expired.

Referring to China and oil-rich Middle Eastern countries, the G7 has called on nations that “have the capacity and are not yet among the current providers of international climate finance” to start contributing funds.

Under UN rules that date back 30 years, countries like China and Saudi Arabia are classified as developing nations, despite their economic growth since then.

Turning to the private sector, leaders supported the work being done by the International Sustainability Standards Board to develop climate-related disclosure rules for companies. The ISSB is expected to issue its first set of standards in June. The “important role of high integrity carbon markets and carbon pricing” was also highlighted.

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