SAPPORO, Japan (AP) — Energy and environment ministers from the Group of Seven Wealthy Nations pledged Sunday to work to speed up the transition to cleaner, renewable energy, but didn’t set a timeline for phasing out coal-fired power plants as two days of talks led to the northern Japanese city Sapporo.
Officials issued a 36-page communiqué outlining their commitments ahead of the G-7 summit in Hiroshima in May.
Japan has won the support of other G-7 countries for its own national strategy emphasizing so-called clean coal, hydrogen and nuclear power to help ensure its energy security.
“Recognizing the present global energy crisis and economic disruption, we reaffirm our commitment to speed up the clean energy transition to zero net greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050 at the newest.” – we read within the message.
Leaders reiterated the necessity to urgently reduce carbon emissions and achieve “overwhelming decarbonisation of the energy sector” by 2035.
“We urge and can work with other countries to complete latest, unabated coal-fired power generation projects around the globe as soon as possible to speed up the transition to clean energy in a good manner,” the document reads.
The stipulation that countries rely “primarily” on clean energy until 2035 leaves room for fossil fuel energy to proceed. But ministers agreed to prioritize steps towards phasing out “relentless” coal-fired power generation – power plants that don’t use mechanisms to capture emissions and stop them from escaping into the atmosphere.
The US president’s special envoy for climate, John Kerry, said the meetings were “really constructive”.
“I feel unity for the goal that has been expressed to phase out unrelenting fossil fuels is a vital statement,” Kerry said in an interview with The Associated Press.
The call to motion comes as China and other developing countries step up demands for help to phase out fossil fuels and stabilize energy prices and supplies amid disruptions brought on by Russia’s war with Ukraine.
The issue of setting a timetable for phasing out coal-fired power plants has long been some extent of contention. Japan relies on coal for nearly a 3rd of its energy production and in addition promotes the usage of so-called clean coal, using carbon capture technology to produce hydrogen, which only produces water when used as fuel.
G7 countries account for 40% of worldwide economic activity and 1 / 4 of worldwide carbon emissions. Their actions are critical, as is support for less wealthy countries, which regularly suffer the worst effects of climate change and have the least resources to mitigate such effects.
Emissions in developed economies are declining, though historically higher – the USA alone accounts for a few quarter of historical global carbon emissions – while emerging markets and developing economies now account for greater than two-thirds of worldwide carbon emissions.
The president-designate of the following UN climate talks, COP28, who also participated within the Sapporo talks, issued a press release calling on the G7 countries to increase financial support for the transition of developing countries to clean energy.
Sultan Al Jaber called on other leaders to help develop a “Recent Deal” on climate finance to step up efforts to mitigate and adapt to climate change and protect biodiversity, especially in developing countries.
“We’d like to make a fairer deal for the Global South,” he said. “It isn’t enough to reach the people and places that need it most.”
He said developed countries must deliver on the $100 billion pledge they made on the 2009 COP15 meeting. The next talks are to happen in Dubai at the tip of November.
Chinese President Xi Jinping and Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva issued a joint statement saying, “We’re very concerned that funds provided by developed countries proceed to fall wanting the $100 billion annually pledge.”
Lula met Xi in Beijing on Friday.
Economic development is the primary defense against climate change, Bhupender Yadav, India’s environment minister, said in a tweet.
“The global goal of being net-zero by 2050 requires enhanced carbon removal by developed countries,” Yadav said, to enable countries like India to develop their economies, best defend against the consequences of climate change, environmental degradation and pollution. “
The document drawn up in Sapporo contained significant amounts of nuance to account for the differences between the G-7’s energy strategies, climate advocates said.
“They’re boldly speaking out in regards to the urgency of addressing the climate crisis, but the actual test is what they’re telling the remaining of the world about their commitments to stepping up ambition,” Alden Meyer, senior associate at E3G, a think tank, said in a Spaces Twitter session shortly after the discharge. message.
But while other G-7 countries have prevented Japan from extending loopholes to allow wider use of fossil fuels, the pledges “fall wanting the vital call to motion,” Meyer said.
While the G7 energy and environment ministers concluded their meetings in Sapporo, further south within the mountain town of Karuizawa, the G7 foreign ministers wrestled with other common issues, including regional security and the war in Ukraine.
The war complicated efforts to switch to renewable energy, disrupting oil and gas trade and driving prices up sharply. And it has to stop for a lot of reasons.
“It’s crazy and tragic,” Kerry said, however the phasing out of carbon emissions can and must proceed.
“I feel energy security is exaggerated in some cases,” Kerry said, pointing to Germany’s progress in the usage of renewable energy.